


Twin Humanities

by Max7238



Series: Dark Souls: Twin Humanities [1]
Category: Dark Souls (Video Games), Dark Souls I
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Inspired by Music, Magic, Miracles, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Pyromancy, Souls Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-28 11:43:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 85,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10830588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Max7238/pseuds/Max7238
Summary: Originally posted on FFN. Caught up over May 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2017.Updates Fridays. Usually.This is the story of one Chosen Undead, and the partner that would become the only solid thing in a world of Dark and ashes. The story of two Darksigns. Twin humanities. Discord at .gg/MEUU5Z6





	1. Opening

Begin Again

\---

**-Undead Asylum-**

The lock on the cell door clicked open, a worn key quickly scraping out of the lock. The Undead in the cell jerked awake, looking around before getting up to inspect the door. It squeaked open easily, and she looked around the hallway. In the dim torchlight, another Undead was going door to door, unlocking all the cells. It wore light leather armor, the hilt of a sword in its right hand. A loud crash caused the Undead woman to stumble back in surprise. She looked the other direction down the hallway to see a Hollow collapsed on the floor, its cell door open. She looked back to find that the warrior was gone. Other Hollows were emerging, and she had no way to defend herself save her strength, so she ran to follow the warrior. From one of the newly opened cells, a Hollow threw itself at her, groaning. She ducked, slowing and turning to pick up her foe by the rags it wore. Holding it by a tuft of cloth at the waist and the collar, she threw it bodily back into the cell where it remained long enough for her to run ahead.

\---

Creeping up some stairs in a snow-covered courtyard, the Undead woman saw the warrior from earlier leap from a platform and stab his new longsword into the neck of the Asylum guardian, a great Demon with an equally large hammer. The Demon shook off the warrior, sending him crashing to the floor. The Undead woman looked around quickly, trying to find something, anything, to pick up as a weapon to help. She saw an open iron door, rusted and aged like all the others, and scrambled over to it. She looked at the hinges, prepared to rip off the door, and was startled by an ear-splitting roar. She grabbed the door, shifting her feet for a better stance, and heaved. The bricks into which the door was embedded shifted, but the door didn’t come free. Another roar and an earthquake and the Undead woman fell back, off balance. 

She ran back to see what was happening in the battle. Another Undead had joined the warrior, this one in cumbersome knight armor with a broadsword. The Demon swept its hammer from side to side, forcing the knight to dive to the floor and the warrior to flip through the air after attempting to block the strike. Both Undead struggled to their feet, but the Demon was stumbling. The wound in its neck was taking its toll, blood coursing down the side of the Demon. The new arrival took his chances, running forward and swinging his broadsword with all his might, cutting deeply into the Demon’s thigh. The slab of flesh that was the Asylum Demon toppled, crushing him. While it was down, the warrior broke into a run, almost crashing into the door at the other end of the collapsed hall. He struggled to open the door while the Undead woman ran over to the dying Demon, bending down to try and roll it to free the trapped Undead. As soon as she could move it at all, the metal-clad man clawed his way out from under the dead creature. He looked from the woman, bound in rags, to the Asylum Demon.

“You moved that?!” he asked, surprised.

“My strength is all I have,” she answered.

“What’s your name?”

The Undead woman stepped back, letting the mounds of flesh she’d been holding sag back to the ground. She tilted her head, a wisp of hair drifting over her face. After a few seconds, she put a hand on her head, looking pained or saddened.

“I don’t remember,” she said at last.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “I was called Tetsuro, The Weaponmaster. I lived in Catarina for many years until I found myself branded Undead. I had to leave behind much, but I seek great battles and it has lead me to pursue the legends in Lordran.”

“I remember Lordran! Something about breaking the curse…”

“Indeed, so the stories go. I have no hate for this curse; fight for a purpose, maintain willpower, and it is no curse but a blessing.”

“But… My memories…”

“You, like so many, must have lost your way. Your hopelessness has cost you some of who you once were.”

“That sounds right…”

“Take it from one who has not been Undead long, then, that this is the truth. Now, we ought to get out of here while we can. There’s another demon around, and that warrior freed many other Undead, most of them Hollows. It’s dangerous to stay.”

The Undead woman nodded. They rounded the corpse of the Asylum Demon in time to see a massive crow snatch up the warrior, atop a not-so-distant cliff. Though they ran to the site as quickly as they could, all they managed to do was watch the crow’s figure vanish into the distance.

\---

Nearly a day passed as Tetsuro and the Undead woman waited for the crow to return. In that time they discovered yet another crow, though smaller and able to speak simple words, who offered a treasure in exchange for the Undead woman’s only possession. She held out the linked black sprites and the crow quickly snatched them up and flew away. Moments later, the crow returned with a brilliantly sparkling ring. Unsure if it had been a smart trade, she put the ring on anyway, as the crow wouldn’t return what she had given it. When at last the large crow returned, Tetsuro insisted she leave with it.

“I’ll be just fine here. I have a few things with me to keep me going. You should go ahead, see if you can’t find something for yourself. I’ll follow when I can and look for you in Lordran. May we meet again soon.”

The Undead woman smiled as best she could through her cracked skin, nodded, and ran forward. The crow balanced on one leg, reached out with the other to grab her, then took off once more without a moment’s rest. Tetsuro remained on the hill, clutching a small pendant and watching the crow disappear a second time...

\---

Several hours passed with the woman stuck in the crow’s grasp, the cold and rushing wind making sleep impossible. When at last the scenery below began to change, the woman heard a terrible roaring and saw flashes of orange light. She struggled to see what was happening when the crow suddenly dropped her and cawed in pain. As she fell, she finally saw the cause to be a large red drake. Having assaulted the crow, it briefly landed on a bridge before taking off again. The woman flew into a panic, falling into a dark chasm and bumping into a huge pillar. This caused her to spin until her leg, just above the knee, slammed into a stone walkway, sending her flipping through the air and finally smashing into another pillar. Her hell of gravity was finally punctuated by hitting the dirt, a brief moment of silence, then the sound of glass cracking as her ring broke neatly in half and blackened.


	2. Chapter 2

**-Blighttown-**

A gentle hand probed for life, patting the Undead woman and speaking to her. She slowly awoke, remembered what had happened, and suddenly bolted up, looking around.

“My, my, you are a lucky one,” said the figure who had woken her. “I am Quelaana, of Izalith. Who are you, to have fallen from the sky in such a way?”

The Undead shook her head slightly. “I don’t remember.”

“You don’t know who you are? Then you very nearly Hollowed, I’d say. Are you from the Undead Asylum?”

“Yes. A crow brought me.”

“Strange. Usually it has seen fit to leave new arrivals in a much safer place than this.”

“It was attacked by a dragon.”

“A dragon?! I find that hard to believe, child. Perhaps you saw a drake? Those are much more likely… In any case, do you know where you are?”

“Lordran?” said the Undead woman, hopeful.

“You are indeed. Though in your state I fear you won’t last long. Is there anything you can remember about yourself?”

The Undead woman took pause, thinking. “I remember… I’m very strong, I was sent to the Asylum a long time ago, my parents were… Important… And I stayed in the Asylum of my own will for a long time, but by the time I wished to leave I thought there was no point.”

“And so you lost hope and began to Hollow… Well, you’ve not much to go on. There are few who could help you with your memory, and only one who I can guarantee you’ll find. But to reach any of them you will need far more than just your strength. I may be able to help you get started, but you must be up to the task.”

The Undead woman tilted her head.

“And, of course, you shall need a name. Let’s solve several of your problems at once, then. Give me your hands, please.”

The Undead woman held out her hands. Quelaana placed her own hands over them and the Undead woman felt an odd power rush up her arms and flow through her. When their hands parted, Quelaana’s glowed a blazing orange before fading. The Undead’s hands glowed a pure blue, flickering wildly from almost invisible to nearly blinding.

“Raise your hand and aim for that leech out there, in the swamp. Then, focus your will. Pyromancy is an extension of the self. The greater your will, your purpose, your confidence, the stronger you will be.”

The Undead did as she was told. A blue jet shot from her hand, but dissipated a short distance away, never reaching the leech.

“Ahh, a Fire Surge. Quite advanced for a first try. And a blue flame, as well, something rather uncommon. I would consider such heat a waste of energy in most cases, but a Fire Surge might benefit from-... I’m sorry, you must be lost. I got a bit carried away. You have great potential, but you lack control and, of course, experience. If you would like, you may stay and learn a measure of Pyromancy from me before you go on your way. I may be able to provide you with something better to wear than those rags you’re in as well. And, if you give me time, a name as well.”

Elation was plain on the Undead’s face, despite her deformed features.

“If you don’t mind my being frank, you have a naivete about you not unlike someone much younger than you are. No doubt it must come from your memory loss. With your blue Pyromancy, I’m inclined to simply call you the ‘Blue Child.’’Seiko,’ if you will accept it.”

“Sei… Ko?”

“I find Eastern names easy to cobble together, you see. They use ideas in their words. Your name will be, quite literally, ‘blue child’ to any Eastern travelers you meet.”

“Mm-hmm, I like it.”

“Seiko, it is, then. Come, we should get out of the swamp. There is a bonfire nearby that is much safer.”

Quelaana stood, leading Seiko around the pillar, toward an outcropping of dirt with torches lighting it. A large insect with a fire in its belly stood on the outcropping, turning to face Quelaana as she approached. The moment it brandished its flame, spitting a stream of fire at Quelaana, she retaliated with a swift fireball. Her Pyromancy parted the flame of her enemy, flying right into its stomach. The insect glowed dimly from within and stopped moving. Quelaana continued as though there had been no interruption.

\---

**-Firelink Shrine-**

Tetsuro hit the dirt on his hands and knees after being dropped by the crow. He looked around and found himself in a ruined courtyard outside a collapsed building on the side of a cliff. There was a bonfire before him, more brightly burning than the one in the Asylum, and a man in chainmail sitting nearby.

“Y-... You there…!” said Tetsuro, still cold and exhausted from the flight. It had taken a bigger toll than he’d thought.

“Ahh, another new arrival. Quite a few recently. Take your time. No need to rush. Warm yourself a bit and rest. No use meeting your inevitable death with your teeth chattering and your limbs numb.”

The man laughed, but his laugh sounded pained and joyless. Tetsuro thumped to the ground by the fire, holding his hands out to the warmth.

“While you’re doing that, I’ll give you the same message as the others. You must be here to learn the fate of the Undead. Chasing that old legend of the bell and flame, I’m sure. Well, actually, there are two Bells of Awakening. You can reach them both from here, but it’s a long journey either way. One is high above us, but no one’s bothered to send the elevator down. The other is far, far below, surrounded by blight pus and rickety wooden platforms. The Undead Parish and Blighttown. Ring them both and ‘something’ happens.”

“Have you seen a woman pass through here? She was nearly Hollow, black hair, rags?”

The man shifted as he sat, thinking. “No. Not that I recall. The last one was a few days ago, a man in leather armor. He seemed quite gullible, rushing on ahead nearly before I’d finished telling him what he needed to know.”

“That must be the same one we saw escape ahead of us. But how could she not have come here?”

“Perhaps… The crow did land and rest a day or so ago after being chased by the Hellkite. In the fright, it could have dropped her. Such an accident is the only way an Undead ferried by the crow wouldn’t end up here. New arrivals are always dropped in Firelink Shrine.”

“Firelink Shrine? Is that this place?”

“It is.”

“And how to I get to Blighttown? She must have ended up there.”

“Oh, you won’t be going down there just yet. All the doors down are locked.”

“How do you know all this?”

“My, did you think this sort of depression my natural state?”

“So you’ve already tried what I’m about to? Any tips?”

The man smiled scornfully. “‘Be wary of liar.’”

Tetsuro’s Hollowed face wasn’t suited for much emotion, but it could portray his lack of amusement well enough. The man laughed again.

“That’s enough chatter, then. Off you go.”

“Hmph.” Tetsuro stood, looking around. There were Hollows shuffling around outside an aqueduct and stairs carved into the cliff. If he had to go up, that was the way to go.

“Thank you, at least, for the information. But perhaps you should try to avoid infecting others with your lack of hope. It’s infuriating.”

The man just sighed, speaking no more. Tetsuro drew his broadsword and took his kite shield off his back, starting his journey.

\---

**-Blighttown-**

Seiko took the black robes from Quelaana, putting them on over her rags and pulling their hood over her head. Her empty sockets were nearly invisible under the shadow of the hood, much like Quelaana’s face.

“Much better,” said Quelaana. “Now, to the chamber above us.”

Quelaana led the way to a round sewer chamber up a ramp, sliding down into the dry pit in the chamber and walking to the other side. Seiko dropped in as well.

“First, some theory. This knowledge is paramount, so listen closely and do not forget it.”

Seiko nodded, intent.

“Pyromancy is, as I mentioned, an extension of the self. It has many forms, and can have surprisingly wide reaching effects. In the beginning…”

Quelaana paused a moment, her gaze drifting down a bit.

“Pardon me,” she said, “But I speak of my mother, who had no fear of her power. Her flames consumed her, you see. It’s a tragedy that still grips the world, and myself…”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to bring up bad memories,” said Seiko.

“It’s not your fault, child. As I was saying, when Pyromancy was first being used, it was, as you might expect, centered around powerful flames in many shapes and forms. After it was spread into the world, long after the calamity that befell my mother, those who came in contact with it changed what it could do. Poisonous gases, acids, changes to one’s own body, even manipulating weaker Hollows; many new techniques were birthed from Pyromancy, just as many new lives were born of the First Flame. I am versed in all manner of Pyromancy, but much of its mutations I will not teach you. Should you learn them on your own, or from some other master, so be it. What I teach is the heart of Pyromancy; that is, to fear one’s own flame, to know one’s own limits, and to control one’s influence over the flame. I may not teach you everything Pyromancy has to offer, but the skills you will develop will apply to all of its facets.”

“Are the mutations that terrible?”

“You think searing flesh from bone not terrible?”

Seiko looked horrified. “I didn’t mean…”

“I know. But that is a part of what I mean by learning to fear one’s own flame. Now, I will demonstrate one simple skill and one advanced skill. I want you to try and imitate them both.”

Quelaana held up a hand, which glowed suddenly and lit aflame. A fireball swirled into her palm and she threw it on the ground in the center of the chamber, between herself and Seiko. The fireball struck and burst, spraying more fire in a small radius. Next, Quelaana raised her other hand, again summoning fire, and placed it on the ground. A single, bright orange pillar of flame erupted in the same spot between them.

“Now you try,” she said, watching.

Seiko raised a hand, blue flames spinning in her hand, and she attempted to throw a fireball. Hers was much larger, flew off center, and exploded nearly wide enough to light her robes on fire. Quelaana watched calmly, but Seiko stumbled away from the blast, surprised.

“Try the next one,” instructed Quelaana, tone level.

Seiko raised her hand, summoning her fire, and placed it on the ground. Many pillars of blue flame lanced from the ground, appearing randomly all over the chamber. Quelaana calmly stepped aside as a pillar suddenly burst from the ground where she’d been standing, then again to avoid a second pillar. When at last the pillars ceased, Seiko felt as if she’d pass out, suddenly exhausted.

“As expected, you have great power and no control. You may have stronger flames than I do, already. But all that power will only do you harm if you cannot direct it properly.”

Seiko had to sit down, her breathing slow and labored.

“Can you… Use blue fire…?” said Seiko between breaths.

“Of course.” Quelaana pointed an open palm into the air at an angle and a jet of blue fire swirled out in a tightly bound bar.

“I can do more than that, even.” The bar of flame turned white and dazzling.

“You can tell a flame’s heat by its color. What you will see from me during your training will always be low heat, to save energy and make proper demonstrations. Cooler flames are easier to control as well, something that is no doubt influencing your wild lack of it. You’ve already worn yourself out and we’ve barely begun. For now, rest. When you feel better we will continue.”

\---

**-Undead Burg-**

Tetsuro sat down by the first new bonfire he’d encountered. He’d fought and killed nearly twenty Hollows between where he was and Firelink, stolen an Estus Flask from one with heavier armor than the others, and had a new battle axe hanging from his back where his shield usually was. Without anywhere to put new weapons, it would have to do. He’d only rested a few minutes when he heard a rasping sound come from just outside the small stone tower he was in, on the wooden bridge connecting it to the path atop the wall he’d taken to get here. The sound had come from a strange symbol on the ground, and Tetsuro went to investigate. When he got close, the form of an Undead faded into view as if standing on the symbol. Tetsuro bent down, close to the ethereal, glowing sign. His curiosity got the best of him and he reached out to see if it was solid, since it wasn’t perfectly flat. As soon as his hand touched it, a portal yawned open in place of the symbol. The warrior from the Undead Asylum rose out of the ground via the portal as a golden phantom, coming to stand in its place.

“What was that?” asked Tetsuro.

“Ahh, it’s you! That was a summon sign I wrote with a soapstone I received from a fine gentleman up ahead. It allows me to cross worlds, even time, to aid those who come after me.”

“So, does that mean I could receive one as well if I find this man?”

“I think so. My name is Jinta of Astora, a fledgling Knight of Sunlight. The man I mentioned is my senior, Solaire, quite the knight. After receiving his aid, I was inspired to help others, like yourself, make progress. The way ahead is home to more Hollows than you faced before, and they are better prepared to steal souls. You, uhh, also look like you could use a Bottomless Box, among other things.”

Jinta leaned to the side to look at the battle axe on Tetsuro’s back.

“Bottomless Box?”

“There should be a, admittedly, strange Undead nearby who will trade souls for some important items. I found him by chance while exploring, finding the other path to be… Less than agreeable. I’ll show you the way, then we can move you ahead. Be warned, however, should we defeat a powerful foe I will be forced to leave your world as the balance of power shifts. There are two that I know of nearby, but we’ll deal with that later. This way, then.”

The phantom Jinta went down a set of stairs nearby, crossing the stone platform and heading for a different section of the complex. After crossing the connecting bridge, the two Undead were met with two Hollows with shields and spears. They engaged one each, Jinta stepping forward and kicking his opponent’s shield aside and slashing it with his longsword from shoulder to hip. When it stumbled back, Jinta followed through with a stab, below the ribs. Tetsuro’s opponent was a bit more aggressive, rearing back to throw all its weight into a stab with its spear. Tetsuro watched closely, then angled his shield and deflected the blow. In the opening, he stepped forward and slashed back-handed across the Hollow’s neck, kicked it in the chest, then followed through with an overhead slash. Tetsuro looked over to see Jinta stepping on the other Hollow’s chest to rip his sword out, using both hands.

“Why did we kill them?” asked Tetsuro, looking around.

“You should pay more attention to your surroundings.”

Jinta walked over to a pile of abandoned crates and sheathed his sword, moving some of the boxes aside to reveal a staircase.

“He’s just down here.” Jinta went down the stairs and stood by another door on the lower floor.

“While you talk with him, I’ll clear out the area a bit more,” said Jinta, drawing his sword and taking his beat-up shield off his back.

Tetsuro walked through the door, looking around with his shield up. He heard wood smashing and clashing metal in the other room, signalling Jinta was doing as he’d said. There was a nearly Hollowed Undead sitting amongst odds and ends.

“Well, look at this. One who’s not lost his wits. I trade for souls, for anything you see here. Don’t look so shifty, come on. I’m sure there’s something you’ll want.”

The Undead shifted where he sat, obviously having been there a long time and trying to stay comfortable.

“I was told you have a ‘Bottomless Box?’” said Tetsuro.

“Oh, yeah, this old thing.” The Undead stood up, walked around behind one of the crates nearby, gripping the handle on a large chest and struggling to drag it into view. He tilted it and opened it, showing a deep black interior, like staring into a dark cave.

“I won’t part with it easily, mind you. You’d better have a lot of souls to trade for it.”

“How does it work?”

“What? That’s a stupid question. You put things in it, obviously. You can also toss it in a bonfire and pull it out later.”

“From any bonfire? That’s… Some magic.”

“I’ve already got one, myself, but I found this extra sitting around nearby.”

“And what’s to keep me from just taking it, then?” said Tetsuro, his weapons still drawn. He was in full knight armor, with a shield. The Undead merchant was in rags and a hat.

“Well, for one thing, you’d have to rip it from my cold, dead hands. And for another, if you tried, I’d feed you some steel.”

The Undead reached over his shoulder, revealing the hilt of a sword hidden under his rags.

“The rusted blade of a Hollow doesn’t scare me.”

“Rusted?! I’ll show you rusted, you bastard!” He drew the sword, a fine katana.

“Are we gonna do business or do I need to run you through, then?!”

“A good fight’s worth more to me than your trinkets and souls. Drop the chest and come at me.”

The Undead did just that, flailing wildly at first to scare Tetsuro before demonstrating excellent technique with his sword. He slashed and pulled the blade slightly to facilitate slicing, but Tetsuro was able to block with his shield a few times. The Undead feigned an overextended slash that Tetsuro tried to take advantage of, only to almost have his head taken off. Tetsuro blocked with his broadsword and backed away.

“What’s wrong, tough guy? In over your head?!”

“Hmph. You’re a lot better than the others, I’ll give you that. But now I want that sword too. And I’ve got other things to be doing, so unless you’ve got any more tricks to show me, I’ll put an end to this.”

“Big talk f-!”

The Undead had to cut off talking because Tetsuro had rushed him to catch him off guard. As Tetsuro stepped in with a slash, the merchant landed a deep cut through his armor at the waist. Tetsuro sagged a bit, but he was too close for the Undead to block or avoid his attacks. Three quick swings with his broadsword and the merchant fell to the stones, bleeding his life out on his rug and stolen wares. Tetsuro sheathed his broadsword and reached into a pouch on his belt for the Estus Flask he’d found earlier, taking a hearty gulp. The stored power from his rest by the fire earlier sealed his wound in an instant and he put the flask away again. He was busy rummaging through the goods before him when Jinta returned.

“What have you done?!” he said in surprise. “Why would you kill him?”

“I’m not here to be moral,” said Tetsuro, not bothering to turn around, still pocketing things and inspecting others. “He obviously stole these things, and he was at least a decent swordsman, unlike most of the Undead I’ve met in Lordran so far. I’m here to seek battle, not legends. If I can get more out of someone by dueling them, I’d prefer to do that.”

“‘Not here to be moral?’ Should I be watching my back, then?!”

“No. I can see you have more potential than your current state. If we duel, it won’t be for a long time, yet. Besides, I didn’t say I was a back-stabber, I said I seek battle. What fun would it be for me if my opponent didn’t know we were fighting?”

“... I can’t say I agree with that view, but at least you’re not dishonorable about it. And honest.”

“Thank you,” said Tetsuro, holding up a hefty sack full of golden powder before pulling the tie and pocketing it as well. He stood, grabbing the handle of the Bottomless Box.

“Now,” he said, “I need to drop this off at the bonfire, then we can move forward.”

\---

**-Blighttown-**

“Much better,” said Quelaana. Seiko had finally thrown a fireball of sustainable size, the size of a fist with a burst that reached only waist height.

“See if you can do it five times in a row.”

Quelaana coached and Seiko did as she was told, modifying as she went. When she tired, Quelaana taught her theory, explained the origins of several mutations of Pyromancy, and spoke of the state of the world. Seiko asked questions here and there, but was content with listening to her knowledgeable teacher. After a few days, when Seiko was more consistent with her control, Quelaana showed her to a massive wheel system that functioned like an elevator.

“You’ve learned quite enough from me, child. You should head for the surface this way. There shouldn’t be much to worry about, but this path can lead to even worse places than Blighttown. Listen carefully.”

“Of course.”

“Other travelers have come down from Firelink Shrine on this wheel. It cannot be far, according to them, but you should take care to avoid anything that looks too dangerous.”

“You won’t come too?”

“No, child, I have my place and I have my reasons. If you don’t make it, do not look for me here. You won’t find me. Just rest at the bonfire and try again until you find your way to safety. Remember, you are looking for Firelink Shrine.”

“I will. Thank you, Sister.” Seiko stepped in suddenly, hugging the Chaos Witch.

Quelaana tensed, surprised, but gave in and patted Seiko on the back as a compromise. Before she could say anything else, Seiko jumped onto an approaching platform and was lifted away. Quelaana stood by, watching until the darkness hid Seiko from sight, then turned to go.


	3. Chapter 3

**-Blighttown-**

Seiko stepped off the elevator before the wheel flipped the wooden platform she’d been on, quickly locating a ladder marked by a torch. She was met by one of the firebugs atop one of the many ladders she had to climb, but rather than try to match it with fire, she fell back on her strength, bringing her hands together and hammering down on its head before it could attack. It splattered its innards over the wooden platform, popping like a melon. Seiko reached the top of another ladder when she got hit with a blowdart. Almost instantly, Seiko felt dizzy and sick to her stomach. An Undead up ahead, away from the next ladder, held a blowgun and was watching her fearlessly. Seiko straightened, took a wide stance, and hurled a fireball at her attacker. The Undead panicked, turned to run, and was struck in the back, disappearing in a flash of fire. A second later its charred corpse hit the wood platform, almost at the same time as Seiko’s knees. She wanted to puke, her vision was blurring, and before she knew it, she was face-down on the wood, her vision going dark.

**\---**

**-Undead Parish-**

“Back again, eh?” said the burly blacksmith, sitting at his anvil. Tetsuro was coming down the stairs with several pieces of heavy armor in his hands. His humanity restored, he had light skin, dark, wavy hair hidden by his knight helmet, and black irides.

“I am, indeed. There was a large warrior inside the church. I’m wondering if I could trade his armor with you for some more weapons.”

“More? Ya’ve got a sword, axe, spear, and a greatsword. I’ve got nothing else that would interest you.”

“How about some Titanite, then?”

“Aye, I’ve still got that. Which of your weapons do you want worked on?”

“I haven’t decided yet, but I’ll take the Titanite while I can get it.”

“This armor’s goin’ to be worth a fair bit of it. How about a smithbox as well?”

“Smithbox?”

“It can’t modify your weapons, but it’s got what you need to embed Titanite in ‘em yerself.”

“Sure, why not? Having that and a repair box means I won’t have to bother you as much down the road.”

“S’no bother at all, you know. I enjoy my work, else I wouldn’t be here doin’ it.”

“I’ll be back with the rest, then I’ve got some more exploring to do.”

Tetsuro took several trips from the Parish courtyard, taking the empty armor back to Andre, the blacksmith. It was far too large to fit him, and if Andre would accept it and trade for things that are useful, that was for the best. Once he’d made his trade and stored all the extras in his box, the first thing he did was head down the elevator to see where it went. To his delight, it brought him right back to Firelink, reminding him that the man he’d first spoken to had mentioned an elevator. He sat at the bonfire, choosing to ignore the very same man who had given him the information he needed, and rested. After a while, he withdrew his Bottomless Box, opening it and going over his belongings. He’d practiced with the many weapons he’d found, but it was impossible to say he didn’t have preferences. His broadsword was still by his side, infused with Titanite thanks to Andre, but all his other weapons were still in their natural state. As he rummaged through his box, he heard labored breathing and uneven steps coming up the stairs nearby. A figure draped in black robes stumbled to the top of the stairs, a hand on its stomach. The figure turned to face Tetsuro, himself paused reaching into his box. The face of a Hollow peered back at him, and the figure shuffled over to him.

“T… Tetsuro?” it choked out, in a familiar voice.

“It’s you!” he said, remembering the Undead woman from the Asylum. “What’s wrong?”

“Poison. I’ve come up from Blighttown.”

“Oh! Come, sit then!” He held a hand, gesturing to the bonfire. She shuffled over, feeling better right away.

“You’ll be cured in a few minutes. You said you came from Blighttown, though, how?”

Seiko showed him the key in her hand.

“You’ve unlocked the door?! Excellent!”

“There are ogres in the way… And Undead spitting poison darts. It would be best to find another way, I think.”

“I’d like to try before giving up, but I will keep that in mind. Have you remembered anything about yourself?”

Seiko shook her head. “But I have a name. Seiko.”

“Is it a name you remember?”

“Quelaana named me.”

“Who?”

“She’s a Pyromancer, a Daughter of Chaos. She found me in Blighttown and helped me.”

“I see. Well, how about I help you as well, then? I take it you’ve learned some Pyromancy from her?”

Seiko nodded.

“Then you’d be of great help to me. Of course, I won’t ask for something from you without making an offer of my own. I have some spare armor I’ve stripped from Hollows, and many weapons. You’re free to take what you need, but only if you’ll follow me. I want to know the truth about this place. To learn it, though, I must ring both Bells of Awakening. I’m very close to the first, as I’ve heard from Jinta.”

“Jinta?”

“He’s the Undead who went ahead of us, the warrior. He’s been able to make swifter progress than I, but he’s offered his hand in battle as well as information.”

“I’ll help. I need to get stronger as well.”

“Do you also want to know the truth about Lordran?”

“I want to know about myself. Quelaana said the only person who can help me is a powerful mage. She said the only one she knows the location of is in New Londo, but it’s haunted by cursed spirits. I came to Firelink to recover from the poison in Blighttown and seek strength.”

“Then I can certainly help you. Come, take what you need.”

Tetsuro motioned to his Bottomless Box. Seiko bent down and reached in, grabbing at random, unsure of what to do. Her grasp found nothing as a result.

“Ahh, I’m sorry. You’ll need an idea of what to take before you can take anything. For now, I suppose, I’ll hand you a few things.”

Tetsuro reached in and removed pieces of worn and aged armor, broken in places. He also pulled out one of the longswords he’d claimed from his foes.

“It’s the only spare armor I have, and these are the best examples of their armor I’ve come across. A basic blade will do you well, too. Unless you’d prefer something blunt?”

Seiko fit the armor over her robes, since it was made to fit men larger than her to begin with. Tetsuro tightened the straps on the armor to help it stay in place. Seiko took up the sword and prepared to swing it. The instant she did it flew from her grasp and embedded itself in a stone brick nearby. Tetsuro looked from her back to the sword.

“How… Did you do that?”

“I expected it to be heavier… Sorry.”

Tetsuro walked over to the sword and tried to pull it out. His first attempt failed, but he tightened his grip and yanked harder and the sword pulled free.

“Try holding tighter this time,” he said, handing the sword to her and standing aside in case she sent the blade flying again.

Seiko gripped the hilt with all her might and it collapsed in her hand, but she swung without letting go.

“It doesn’t feel right,” she said, presenting the sword to Tetsuro. His eyes fixed on the imprint of her hand on the hilt as he took it back, nodding.

“I have my Pyromancy. It will be enough.”

“Where do you get such strength? I remember now that you lifted that demon’s flab off of me in the Asylum.”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Tetsuro closed his Bottomless Box, bending down to pick it up. He approached the bonfire and, as he knelt to set it down directly next to the bonfire, the box vanished into the flames. Seiko looked awed.

“Ahh, well, I don’t much understand it either. There’s a great deal of magic at work in Lordran, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Which reminds me.”

Tetsuro held out an open hand, palm up. From within him, a black sprite welled up like a candle’s flame, softly glowing white. Humanity, sought after by all Undead. Seiko had traded her only Humanity to the small crow at the Asylum before coming to Lordran.

“I only have a few to spare, but it would be best if you were human, wouldn’t it? Take it.”

Seiko reached out and the Humanity shifted to her hand almost too quickly to see. She held it out to the bonfire, the Humanity leapt in, and the flames reached back. They swallowed her, almost transparent, and she took an impossibly deep breath of the flame. As she breathed in, teeth grew in her mouth, eyes grew in her sockets, new flesh covered her body, her hair regrew, and her Darksign glowed, the light escaping through her hood and the bottom of her robes. The flames receded, leaving Seiko fully human. Instead of wisps of hair, she now had long black hair, very slightly wavy, trapped under her hood. She reached up to smooth it out of her face, to keep it inside her robes, revealing pale skin, a plain face with sharp features and eyes scrunched against the scratching hair. When she opened them, her eyes were a piercing sky blue, and certainly glowed, if only faintly.

“I’m not sure what I expected, but I certainly didn’t expect you to look like that. You’re scrawny for having so much raw strength.”

Seiko turned her hands over, patting herself down in the gaps of her worn armor. She took a deep breath, exhaling all at once.

“Much better,” she said. “Lead the way, then.”

\---

**-Undead Parish-**

Tetsuro led her to the elevator and they both stepped in.

“Once we reach the top, we need to reach the roof of the church. The first Bell is up there, but the last thing I heard from Jinta is that there are two Gargoyles guarding it. If we can beat them, we should use their souls to ask the blacksmith for some proper armor for you. After that, we can look into a way into Blighttown.”

“You said...”

“I’m going to choose to trust you this time. You were in bad shape when you came to Firelink, and if you have Pyromancy and that amazing strength, it must not have been easy.”

Seiko chose not to bring up that she only succeeded in passing the ogres by dodging them entirely.

“Besides, I have some idea of a path we can try. There are streets below the Undead Burg we may be able to get down to. Speaking of, I’m reminded of my key ring. Care to lend me that key? No sense carrying it everywhere. I’ll add it to my own.”

Tetsuro was putting the key ring back in its pouch when the elevator arrived, the cage door blocking it off moving aside on squeaking hinges.

“To the top we go,” said Tetsuro, drawing his sword and shield. Seiko followed him as he went up a set of stairs nearby. They were almost immediately blocked by a Hollowed Balder Knight. It slashed at Tetsuro and he blocked, swinging at it. It dodged back, then quickly descended the stairs, bashing with its shield. Tetsuro’s shield was smacked aside and he was open, but Seiko grabbed him by the sides and pulled him back. She moved aside as Tetsuro lost his footing because of it and crashed down the stairs, but the Balder Knight had missed. Instead, it slashed at Seiko. She brought up an arm, newly outfitted with the battered Hollow armor, and absorbed the blow, stepping down a stair from the force. The gauntlet had a new rent in it, but it had protected her arm. With her other hand, Seiko unleashed a Fire Surge, the flames pure blue. The Balder Knight flailed, catching fire, and the metal armor it wore scalded its skin as it heated up. The Hollowed knight fell, crashing to the stairs.

Tetsuro drank from his Estus Flask, having sprained his neck and dislocated his knee from the fall. His wounds faded and he rushed up the stairs.

“Are you insane?! I was fine! You almost killed me!”

Seiko shrank slightly, culpable.

“Next time, let me handle myself. We have an Estus Flask, and I’m sure we can find another on one of these Hollows. Healing isn’t an issue and neither is some pain. He was overextended, wide open after that attack! I could have killed him myself and been far less hurt than you throwing me d-... Sorry,” he said, seeing the look of guilt on Seiko’s face. “You were trying to help, I get that. But you need to consider your actions more before doing something like that. It’s no exaggeration that you could have killed me. If you screw up like that consistently, don’t expect us to travel together for very long.”

Seiko nodded slightly, looking down and to the side.

“At least you seem sufficiently sorry. Good. Now let’s continue.”

Tetsuro grabbed the dead Hollow, heaving it down the stairs and out of the way, making a mighty clattering noise as its armor collided with stone. Tetsuro stepped past Seiko on the stairs, once again putting up his shield and moving forward. Around a corner, they came upon the parish balcony. There were Hollows in rags seated against walls, laying on the floor, lolling about everywhere, at least six of them if not more. At the sound of Tetsuro’s clacking footsteps, they began to rise, picking up rotten chair legs, broken swords, metal bands meant for wooden barrels, all sorts of makeshift weapons, and began to approach.

“This might have been bad if they had waited for us to enter. Instead, stand back. I’ll use this doorway to funnel them. No foresight, honestly,” said Tetsuro, shaking his head in disappointment.

Seiko stepped back out of the way, but saw a flash of armor off to the side. She leaned to get a better look, but whatever it was was mostly hidden around a corner at the opposite corner of the room and out a doorway. Some power pulsed through the air and she could feel goosebumps rising all over her, an odd feeling after being Hollow so long.

Tetsuro handled the Hollows well enough. The first stepped in with a rusted and broken blade, which Tetsuro smacked aside with his shield, his sword drawing a red line over the Hollow’s eyes. The next Hollow leapt forward, smashing a chair leg over Tetsuro’s armored shoulder. Tetsuro took the blow and slashed back-handed, easily parting its flesh nearly to the spine under the ribs. He raised his shield again, at the moment Seiko had felt the strange power. The Hollow that struck his shield had a broken sword, and his blow pushed Tetsuro back, moving him off balance.

“What-?” he began, taken completely off guard by the sudden difference in strength from the previous Hollow. Two other Hollows pushed in behind the first as the first began slashing madly. It was sloppy, but for some reason even its haphazard blows were scarring Tetsuro’s armor.

Again, on impulse, Seiko grabbed Tetsuro and pulled him out of the way with her left hand, this time swiping her right hand from low right to high left, a Fire Whip. The heat boiled the three Hollows alive, killing them almost instantly and continuing to burn as their corpses hit the ground. Seiko instantly reached down and lifted Tetsuro to his feet.

“Sorry!” she said quickly.

“No! That time it helped! They’re thinner, come on!”

Tetsuro ran into the room, slashing at waist level to intercept another Hollow, then parrying another and kicking it to the floor. Seiko threw a fireball across the room at the last Hollow, pegging it in the chest. Tetsuro put his boot on the Hollow he’d kicked, cutting its throat as it lay helpless on the floor. Tetsuro put his shield up and looked around. No more Hollows.

“Careful. There’s something else here,” said Seiko. “That room.”

Tetsuro looked to where she’d pointed, the opposite corner from where they’d entered. He approached the room, where a low voice was chanting. As soon as he rounded the door into view of whatever it was, a heavy bolt of magic exploded on his shield sending him to the floor on his butt. The huge figure, a Channeler from the Duke’s Archives, began chanting again. Seiko jumped over Tetsuro and punched the thing in the chest. It flew further than it had sent Tetsuro, nearly to the opposite wall of the small room, but was relatively unharmed. It changed its chanting, suddenly glowing golden and vanishing.

“What in the… What was that thing?” said Tetsuro, getting up and looking over his shield. There was an imprint burned into the metal like rays of light emanating from a source in the center of the shield. The center had been sheared down to less than half of its original thickness.

“That could have been much worse. I don’t know if this shield can take two of those in a row. Give me a second.”

Tetsuro put the shield on the floor, damaged face up, and reached for a pouch on his belt. He took a pinch of the gold powder inside and threw it on the shield. The lightly enchanted repair powder settled into the design on the shield, filling it in again. Tetsuro had to take a second bit of powder to fix it completely.

“That makes me certain I can’t take more than one hit like that with this shield. We need to hunt that thing down, I don’t want to be waiting for it to show up again. I bet it did something to those Hollows, too.”

Seiko nodded her agreement, hearing the chanting again, louder. She looked over the balcony into the rotten pews of the parish to see the Channeler gathering strength again. She pulled back just as a bolt seared the air by her head.

“Found it,” she said, nervous.

The two rushed back down the stairs to find the Channeler flanked by three Balder Knights.

“That… That doesn’t look like a whole lot of fun. I’m all for a good fight, but not something one-sided. That’s one-sided. But if we don’t deal with it now, they’ll be waiting for us later. If we defeat the Gargoyles, no doubt a feat in itself, we’ll be too tired to deal with them.”

“Estus cures wounds and exhaustion, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“I have a plan. Stay here.”

Before he could respond, Seiko dashed out of the stairwell and dove behind one of the less rotten pews. A chunk of the seat back was blown away near her by the Channeler and she ran across the aisle behind a closer pew. She heard the Hollowed knights approaching now and another shot from the Channeler missed her by far, overestimating how far she’d gone behind the pew. With the knights coming down the aisle, Seiko rounded the outside of the pews, now on the opposite side of the parish from Tetsuro who was debating running over to help. He ended his debating and ran to help, but slowed to a stop when he saw the bright and swirling flames in Seiko’s hands. She ran completely past the Channeler, confusing it as it was expecting another direct attack, and put both hands on the ground. Pillars of blue fire erupted from the stone floor all over the main hall of the parish. One pushed the Channeler forward, the heat causing it to double over, and another lanced up into its head and shoulders. The Balder Knights were tossed into the air by the flames, burning to death quickly. The Firestorm ended with Seiko lacking the strength to even stand upright again.

Tetsuro walked over, regarding the scorch marks and charred corpses.

“That was… Quite the display of power, if not overdoing it a fair amount. Here, drink, you’ll feel better.”

He offered the Estus to her and she took it with shaking hands. She drank, but she didn’t feel any better. She sighed and handed it back.

“It doesn’t help…”

Tetsuro received the flask and looked at it. “Hmm. It may only help with physical wounds and exhaustion. Yours is a magical exhaustion, I suppose. It’s the only thing I can think of that makes sense. You won’t be any help in this state. Perhaps you should go back to the bonfire and rest. The way is clear to the roof, which was my goal anyway.”

“I’m coming too,” said Seiko, struggling to stand. Her knees shook, but she was up.

“Look at you, you can hardly stand, let alone walk. I’m not giving you more of my Humanity if you die, and I’m not going to wait for you to keep up. Make your choice, but I’m going up.”

Tetsuro started walking to the stairs with Seiko shuffling behind him. He shook his head and kept walking.


	4. Chapter 4

**-Undead Parish-**

Tetsuro found a golden summon sign near the way outside, bending to touch it, assuming it was Jinta. When Knight Solaire appeared instead, Tetsuro was a bit surprised.

“Oh, hello, there,” said Solaire. “Ready to ring that bell, I see. Have you left a sign to help others?”

“I have, thank you,” said Tetsuro. “We have another to help us, but she is weary. I doubt she will do much in the fight, but I won’t stop her from trying either.”

“And where is this other? Catching up, I assume?”

“Any second now.”

Seiko climbed the ladder shortly after, a cold sweat shining on her skin, out of breath.

“Oh, my. I see what you mean. The bonfire isn’t far, you know. Perhaps we should wait and let her rest before facing the coming challenge.”

“That’s not a bad idea, but more Hollows could approach while we wait.”

“I think we can handle a few Hollows. And having an extra hand will be very helpful. It may be better if you withdraw as well. That heavy armor won’t help you much here. They breathe fire, you see.”

“Good to know,” said Tetsuro,“But I’ll stick to what I have. I have my ways. Though, I want nothing more than to catch up to you and Jinta.”

“Of course. A knight ought to return favors, after all. But haste will only lead to failure, and in the long run you could actually fall further behind that way.”

They descended the ladders and began walking back through the parish when Tetsuro huffed.

“It’s becoming more tempting to me to make my own way, to be honest. I can accept failure because of ignorance, and I dislike having victory handed to me. I’m curious as to the truth, yes, but even more than that I want more souls and strength. I had to leave much behind in accepting to be taken to the Asylum, but the only reason I’m here at all is to seek combat.”

“Forgive my being blunt, but that sounds foolish. I’ve never heard of a person who has made their goal in life to battle. Which is not to say that I dislike or avoid battle myself, but I much prefer to fight for a purpose.”

“My purpose is to fight. I’m a simple man. I seek great and memorable battles with anyone and anything I can, though it has led me to some immoral choices.”

“You make it sound as if you might attack even myself.”

“Jinta got the same feeling. It’s understandable. I know how I sound. But please believe that I will not instigate a fight or strike without warning. I’m not without honor, at least, but I can’t say I dislike dueling others.”

They reached the bonfire, but Tetsuro noticed something wrong.

“I don’t feel any warmth,” he said, confused.

“Of course you don’t,” said Solaire, “You’ve bound yourself to a phantom, to me. As soon as we part, you will be able to receive the bonfire’s power again.”

“These soapstones are curious items,” said Tetsuro, pulling his out of a pocket to turn it over in his hand. “Do you feel any better, Seiko.”

“Much better,” she said, eyes closed, resting.

“When you’re ready, let’s move on.”

“I’m ready,” said Seiko.

“I see. In that case, we should have no problem against the Gargoyles. Jinta said he was able to win on his first try with help from Solaire.”

“This battle is certainly not without risk,” said Solaire, “but I admit that having someone around who has previously attained victory makes it much easier.”

Tetsuro just shook his head.

\---

“Which of them do we fight?” said Tetsuro, his sword and shield drawn, shield up. They were on the roof, surrounded by Gargoyle statues.

“None of these,” said Solaire. “Your foes are above.”

Seiko was behind both of them, following a few steps away, hands glowing dully.

When they are about halfway across the roof, toward the parish belfry, a statue larger than the others leapt from the tower to the roof with a roar. It carried a large stone shield and halberd. Right away it swiped the halberd horizontally over the slant of the roof. Both Solaire and Tetsuro absorbed the hit on their shields. Tetsuro was pushed back, but Solaire simply bent to one knee and let the halberd slide over his shield and over his head. The second the halberd was off his shield, Solaire sheathed his sword and took a bundle of cloth from his belt. From the surrounding air, lightning formed a spear in his fist, which he threw like a javelin at the Gargoyle. The creature shivered from the strike, jumping over the two Undead and almost landing on Seiko, swinging its halberd horizontally again. Its tail, Seiko noticed, had an axe carved onto the end. Just as she wondered if it functioned, the tail whipped at her, forcing her to dodge aside. She hurled a fireball at its back, but the flames did little but scorch it.

“Remember that they breathe fire!” yelled Solaire. He was raising another Lightning Spear when a second Gargoyle, smaller and tailless, landed right behind him and opened its mouth. Solaire let the spear fade, whirling to block with his shield. Behind him, the larger Gargoyle raised its halberd to strike, only to have Tetsuro slash across its chest and neck. Blood sprayed from the wounds, but they were shallow.

“They just have thick skin! I thought they were made of stone,” said Tetsuro. He felt an intense heat behind him, peeking over his shoulder to see Solaire deflecting a stream of flame with his shield, the spray flowering around him.

Knowing that fire wouldn’t work, Seiko took advantage of the larger Gargoyle staggering to run forward and grab the base of its tail. She put a bare foot on its back and pulled with all her might. The stone skin on it cracked, one of the gaps in the vertebrae gave way, and the tail pulled free. The Gargoyle let out a horrid, pained howl and tried to scramble away. It jumped, leaping over Tetsuro and Solaire, crashing into the other Gargoyle. It had stopped breathing fire and was in the middle of swinging its own halberd. The two were briefly tangled, giving Tetsuro time drink Estus. Solaire, whose phantom had become dull and dim after taking so much damage from the Gargoyle’s fire, was suddenly revitalized from his use of Estus.

“We need to finish that big one!” said Tetsuro, rushing forward.

The Gargoyles had broken away from each other and the larger one was furious. It looped forward on its legs and one arm, smashing its halberd down several times as it advanced, less control and more power than usual. Tetsuro saw one strike coming right at him and he raised his shield, putting both arms behind it, the flat of his blade blocking his view with his right eye. The strike slammed him into the shingles of the roof, but got him out of the way of Solaire’s next Lightning Spear. The smaller Gargoyle opened its mouth to breath fire again while the two were wide open. Seiko sprinted forward, got between the flames and her two companions, and opened her hands to release a jet of blue flames to match the Gargoyle. The streams met each other and fanned out, Seiko’s gaining ground quickly until it washed over the Gargoyle. It didn’t have Seiko’s desired effect, as she’d seen Quelaana kill a bug in Blighttown with a similar technique, but it did stop the Gargoyle from breathing fire.

As Seiko distracted the smaller one, Solaire and Tetsuro focused on the larger one, whittling it down with slashes all over its body. When it finally fell, Tetsuro only had enough Estus for one more drink. The three Undead now focused on the smaller Gargoyle, bringing it down quickly by flanking it with Seiko managing its flames. As soon as the final blow was struck and the Gargoyle fell to the floor, Solaire vanished and the combined power of the Gargoyles dispersed. Seiko and Tetsuro each received half of their souls.

“Here,” said Tetsuro, holding out a hand. “Take my half and go back to the bonfire. Speak with Andre, just downstairs, and get yourself some real armor. I’m going to ring the bell before we continue. We will advance toward Blighttown via the streets below the Burg.”

Seiko nodded and reached back, accepting the souls. The two walked in opposite directions off the roof.

Before the two set off, Seiko used the souls they had earned to have her robes converted into leather armor. Instead of thin and worn plates over the fire-retardant gold-hemmed robes, black leather pads were fixed to straps which she affixed over the robes. They covered more of her body and would move with her easier. She also now had black leather boots and gloves. Until she had enough souls for some real armor, it would have to do.

\---

**-Undead Burg-**

Tetsuro shook the bars on the gate, frustrated.

“This has got to lead to the streets!... Wait, isn’t the bridge above us? Maybe one of the keys I found will unlock the other door up there…”

Tetsuro rubbed the light stubble on his chin, thinking. Seiko walked past him, looking at the hinges of the gate. Like in the Asylum, they were set into the bricks. Before she tried forcing it, Seiko tried to thread her thin arm through the bars but they were too closely set. She grabbed the bars, bracing, and pulled with slowly increasing force. She set her jaw in effort, her boots slipping as the door began to give way. Tetsuro heard the cracking bricks and bending metal and turned quickly. Where Seiko gripped the bars, the gate was bending out toward her. The bricks were shifting and cracking.

“Are you mad?! What if you bring down the ceiling?! Stop!”

Seiko slowly relaxed and let go, stepping away from the door.

“You really don’t think things through, do you?”

“I didn’t think shifting a few bricks would make it all collapse.”

“I might be too anxious, you have a point, but I really think I have another way. Let’s at least try my idea before doing something risky like that.”

Seiko nodded her agreement. Tetsuro looked at the door again.

“You don’t suppose you could get even stronger, do you?”

“I feel weak, and I think I was stronger once.”

“You realize that you can infuse souls into your body, right? The souls I’ve captured have been going to my equipment because of my varied tastes, but soon I’ll be using them to empower myself. Since you don’t need equipment as much, I suggest you start restoring the strength you think you lost. Making your body more durable might not hurt, either.”

“I know. But it will take many souls to make a difference.”

“So I see. Now let’s go.”

The two ascended to the bridge. Tetsuro knew the Hellkite had made its home at the other end, but Seiko jumped when she saw it watching them.

“Relax. It’s guarding that side of the bridge for some reason. As long as we don’t try to cross, it should leave us be.”

Tetsuro approached the door just opposite where they’d come out of a stairwell. He took out his keyring and started trying the lock. Eventually one worked and the door eased open. Inside was a short set of stairs and a very long ladder.

“There, see? This should take us to the streets. Let’s go.”

They climbed down the ladder and found themselves on a small landing with two sets of stairs, one going up and around a corner and the other going down to the street.

“I bet the way up leads to that gate you tried to open. Will you go check? I’ll scope out the street while you do, just be sure to catch up.”

Seiko nodded and started up the stairs. Tetsuro waited until she was around the corner, put up his shield and started down. There was a pile of charred corpses to the left of the stairs and some dogs picking at the pile. The second Tetsuro showed his face, the dogs left the pile to come up the stairs and attack him. He started backing away up the stairs to try and force them to attack one at a time, bashing the first with his shield as it jumped at him and stabbing it at the base of the neck into the chest. He kicked it off his sword, slowing the next one, and cleared the stairs back onto the landing. His foot caught on the top step as the second dog leapt at him. Tetsuro had his shield between himself and the dog, pushing it back and slashing at its neck. A fireball hit the third in the shoulder as Seiko came back down the stairs.

“Thanks,” said Tetsuro, getting up.

“You were right. It was the same door.”

“Then we have a shortcut we can use later if we have to. For now, we should move forward and look for a way further down.”

They headed down the stairs, into the street where a cart sat abandoned. Down the street the path went around a corner, cutting off the view of where it led, up the street appeared to be part of the Burg, but there were clearly bars grating off something.

“Maybe there’s a door up there?” offered Seiko.

“Worth a try, I guess,” said Tetsuro.

They went up the street, passing some residences while going around the stairs, when a cry went out from inside one.

“Hello?! Please, if you are not another Hollow, let me out of here!” came the voice.

“We aren’t Hollow. Let me try some of my keys, I may have one that will work. Calm down and sit tight.”

Tetsuro took out his key ring but Seiko stepped in front of him. She put her fist through the door near the lock, twisted her arm around, and yanked the lock right off the door. Without a latch, the door swung open, swinging lazily on its hinges. Tetsuro and the man, who appeared to be a mage, looked at each other for a brief moment, stunned to silence. Tetsuro put his key ring away.

“That’s… One way to solve the issue,” said Tetsuro.

“My thanks, M’lady. I am Griggs of Vinheim.”

“How’d you get locked in there? And why not use magic to escape?”

“If I am truthful, it was a simple accident. I sensed some magic, something old and dying, so I entered the ajar door. While I was inside, the door swung shut. I assume a passing Hollow or other creature pushed it closed, seeing it as a disturbance. As for magic, I was exhausted when I reached this point, and so I’ve been resting and calling for help when I heard anything outside. Only a small amount of my magic has returned; I could surely use a rest at a bonfire.”

“Luckily for you, as a nice turn from your previous misfortune, there’s a bonfire nearby. Up the stairs behind us, then another set to your left. There may be a few Hollows above the second set of stairs, but just over the bridge is a bonfire.”

“I thank you. I’m certainly in your debt. I shall return to Firelink Shrine to rest properly and decide my next move. Perhaps we will meet there.”

“Sure. Careful on your way.”

Seiko bowed lightly as she and Tetsuro left to continue up the street. There were no doors, but a group of Hollows was gathered around a broken down and burning crate. When they heard the two Undead approaching, they all snatched up boards from the crate, walking forward. Some flailed their makeshift brands, but they were all haphazard and without real intent to strike. Tetsuro stepped forward, deflecting the brands with his shield with a bored expression, riposting with ease until the Hollows all lay dead or dying at his feet. Seiko and Tetsuro looked around a bit more, Seiko finding a pair of humanity sprites in a nearby body, but otherwise there was nothing of note. They turned back, heading down the street toward the turn.

“I’ve gotta say,” said Tetsuro while they walked, “When you get some proper equipment, I’d love to duel you. You lack finesse, but your strength and pyromancy would make it interesting.”

“You like to fight? You said you were looking for memorable battles.”

“I am. I don’t just like to fight, it is my reason for living. ‘I seek memorable battles’ is what I say, but what that means probably doesn’t reach people very often. What I mean is that I seek combat that is even. Equal. A fight so close it seems like it may never end, or that even those in the fight can’t tell if they will win until they do. It doesn’t have to be with a knight like myself, someone with armor and weapon in hand, mundane as can be. Mages, pyromancers, rogues, warriors, clerics, paladins; it doesn’t matter to me who or what the opponent is, even if it’s a beast or a demon, what matters is the feeling. Combat is communion, fighting is a language unto itself. I speak much more loudly in combat than in conversation.”

Tetsuro looked up, remembering.

“I’ve already had a few great battles. I’ve noticed a lot of potential since I’ve come here, but that potential has yet to ripen. It’s exciting, in a way. A few times, such as with an Undead merchant I fought, I grew too eager and hoped he was stronger than he appeared. He was, but not as much as I’d hoped. That was when I met Jinta.”

Tetsuro wasn’t looking at Seiko, but she responded.

“You’ve met him? I’d l-” She cut off in a choking sound.

Tetsuro’s head snapped to look and he saw an Undead thief slicing her throat open. It kicked her over and she bled out on the street. There was another approaching from the right who threw a knife at Tetsuro.

“Damn!”

He ducked the knife, blocking a strike from the first thief and lashing out with his broadsword and cutting across its abdomen. He turned to face the other thief when a wasp’s sting lanced through his neck. He struggled to look down and saw the knife of a third thief sticking out of his throat. His vision darkened quickly and he fell to his knees, then to the bricks...


	5. Chapter 5

**-Depths-**

_ This is insane… I can’t find anything down here… These sewers are a maze… _

Jinta, Hollow, trudged through the sewer tunnels for the third time, poisoned and sick, looking for a way further down that didn’t involve drowning in sewage. Again. He had a scimitar and Estoc, a once-new cleric’s robe over his leather armor, and he’d lost his helmet in the water in a previous life. His hair was close-cropped, along with his full beard. His normally tan skin was cracked, splitting, and his dark eyes were now empty sockets. Out of Humanity, lost with no way back but another death, Jinta wandered on.

**-Undead Burg-**

Tetsuro advanced, shield up, eyes shifting. Seiko walked backwards behind him, hands up and glowing dimly with blue flames. Both were Hollowed from their previous death on the street. They walked over their own dried blood and still no ambush. Tetsuro slowed his pace, nearing the corner at the end of the street. Seiko spotted a thief peeking out of a doorway.

“I see one.”

“We should confront it, then. If we just keep going, they could sneak up on us later.”

Seiko thrust a palm forward, shooting a small Fireball at the thief. It ducked back into the door as the fire burst on the wall, waiting for the flare to die out. It looked back out… Only to have Seiko’s fist collapse its skull and send it back into the wall. As soon as Seiko came to a stop from her dashing punch, a thief crept up from behind her, knife flashing. Tetsuro caught up, slashing the hand off the thief and smashing the side of his shield into its head. Seiko slipped past Tetsuro to face the last thief, who had been running silently across the street to attempt an ambush. Caught face to face, the thief threw a knife, then slashed at Seiko as she dodged. She threw up an arm, but the knife was sharp enough that it sliced through her sleeve and the leather glove underneath, through flesh right to the bone. Seiko put her other hand on the thief’s chest and blasted it with Combustion, blue flames flowering between them as the thief hit the road on its back, burning. Seiko cradled her arm, but didn’t use her Estus in case there was a greater need later.

Tetsuro and Seiko waited to see if any more would attack, looking around the area and sticking near each other. When it seemed all was quiet, they returned to their formation and continued down the street and around the corner.

“There are steps here. A bit spread out. Careful,” warned Tetsuro, stepping down. The street narrowed even further around the corner, just some residences and a door covered in fog at the other end.

“We might have another ambush on our hands.”

The two moved further down the street, passing a door. Seiko tapped Tetsuro on the shoulder to stop him, then she approached the door. Like before, when they’d rescued Griggs, Seiko put her fist through the wooden door, this time ripping the entire thing off its hinges. Another Hollow thief had been waiting inside, and it seemed shocked by having its cover blown. Seiko aimed her other hand at it, a quick Fire Surge torching it to death. She set the door down on the mossy bricks, cringing in pain at having used her injured arm for Pyromancy.

Tetsuro turned to comment, but heard another door, now behind him, crash open. He spun, shield up, to face yet another thief. A third jumped out a window to tackle Seiko. She reached up, caught it with her good left hand, spun with the force from its fall, and slammed it into the wall behind her. Tetsuro, facing the remaining thief head-on, was able to dispatch it easily. He picked up its crude knife and slid it under his belt, lacking a sheath for it.

“Not so tough when their ambush fails, are they? There’s a fog gate up ahead, but there are stairs down away from it. I’m not sure about you, but I’m sure I don’t want to deal with whatever is behind that fog. Besides, down is what we want, right?”

“Right…”

Tetsuro nodded sharply and advanced.

Immediately as he turned to go down the stairs, yet another starved dog leapt at him. He managed to stay up, stumbling back with its weight him, but couldn’t do much else. Seiko grabbed its left foreleg and yanked, whipping it off Tetsuro and down the street. It yelped in surprise, but quickly recovered and ran to attack again. Seiko lowered her stance a bit, waiting for it to jump. As soon as it did, she ducked under it and punched up, shattering bones and sending it off course to crash to the bricks on its back. It didn’t get up.

“We need to get you some real armor. Soon. I want my duel.”

Seiko looked confused, but didn’t say anything.

Tetsuro turned to go down the stairs again, looking over the railing. There was another dog further down, waiting. Tetsuro sheathed his broadsword and drew the bandit’s knife he’d picked up. Shield up, he descended, waiting for the dog to attack. He reached the landing, turned to go down the rest of the stairs, and the dog jumped at him. With his shield in the way, he was safe, and he stabbed the dog in the neck with his knife. A brief struggle and the hound met its end. Tetsuro yanked out the knife and tossed the corpse over the side of the stairs, down to who-knew-where. At the bottom of the stairs and down the alley, another thief stood in the open.

“That one’s not too bright,” remarked Tetsuro, looking around. No windows or doors for an ambush. He advanced with caution anyway until the thief started throwing knives at him. Tetsuro put up his shield and ran forward, knife in hand. He passed a corner that blended well with the environment, which hid yet another thief. It turned to chase, missing Seiko since she was further back. She threw a Fireball, barely missing. The Fireball flew just past the thief, bursting on the ground between it and Tetsuro. It stopped quickly, spinning to face Seiko.

Tetsuro reached his target, deflected a blow, and slid his knife between the thief’s ribs, yanking and parting flesh with ease. He kicked the thief, getting it to double over, and pulled the knife out. He bashed it in the back of the head with his shield, then turned to see what had happened to Seiko. She had her hand up, flames glowing, facing a thief who was cautious about drawing too close. It threw a knife, which Seiko dodged, then stepped in. Tetsuro put away his knife, drawing his broadsword, and stepped in to cut down the thief. With the Hollow fully blocking her vision, Seiko pulled her hand back to release Combustion. Her hand flew forward as Tetsuro’s sword slashed down, removing the Hollow thief from between them. Seiko’s blue flames exploded where the thief had been, scorching the front of his armor and burning his face. He recoiled, dropping his sword and shield, hands covering his face. He couldn’t yell, the heat smothering him.

“Tetsuro!”

Seiko bent over him, snatching his Estus Flask.

“Move your hands! Estus,” she said.

He removed his hands, his already Hollowed face burned horribly, flashes of white on his face where his bones were visible. Seiko helped him drink, taking half the Flask to repair his wounds, and waited. When at last he felt better, recovered from the shock of what had happened, he spoke.

“We need to work on our teamwork if we’re going to stick together…”

“Sorry…”

Tetsuro stood up, walking over to recover his sword and shield. “You were defending yourself, I stepped in without warning. You don’t have weapons, so I should have guessed you’d use Pyromancy. It was my mistake. If one of us were a phantom helping the other, that sort of thing wouldn’t happen. As it is, our worlds have remained in contact. We should assume it will stay that way, then, and work on coordinating a bit better.”

The two started walking again, all quiet. The alley widened, but the way forward was blocked ahead by more bars. There was a thick metal door near the bars blocking the path, but there was also a set of stairs leading back up into the burg. Tetsuro tried the metal door, but found it locked.

“Of course… Let’s try up, then.”

They went back to the stairs, heading up a spiraling staircase until they reached a landing. The stairs further up were crumbled and ruined, but there was an opening into what looked like an aqueduct.

“You go. I don’t like water…” said Seiko.

“What? It’s just water. You’ve got boots. It’s not going to hurt you.”

Seiko’s normally blank expression pulled into a frown and she groaned. Tetsuro leveled a disapproving stare.

“You can’t expect me to believe you won’t follow me simply because you don’t like water. What’s wrong with it? It’s completely unreasonable.”

Seiko just stood there frowning. Tetsuro shook his head and turned to go.

“Quelaana said I acted childish. She said it might be because of the memory loss.”

Tetsuro stopped, but didn’t turn around. He sighed. “That doesn’t change that it’s unreasonable. If you know all that, you should be trying to change it, not just accepting it and offering excuses. I’ll check it out and be back.”

Tetsuro stepped into the aqueduct, boots splashing in the ankle-high running water. He looked left and right, then disappeared to the left, his footsteps growing distant. Seiko sat down by the wall, waiting. After a few minutes, she heard Tetsuro’s voice at a low hum and another voice coming from the aqueduct. Another minute or so and Tetsuro reappeared, human.

“This goes back to Firelink Shrine. I visited the bonfire, and I saw Griggs there, but otherwise this way is useless.”

“Who was that?”

“Ahh, a Hollow growing moss for souls. She says they cure ailments, so I bought a few just in case, but she sold a few other things as well. Knives, weapon coatings, something she called a ‘purging stone…’ I’m definitely going to remember she’s there, in case I end up needing anything she sells later. For now, we need to find the key to that door, and I’m willing to bet it’s behind the fog we saw earlier.”

\--

Seiko stood, following Tetsuro down the stairs. They walked down the empty alley, back up more stairs, and came before the fog.

“I’ll go in first,” said Tetsuro, and draw attention. “Count to ten and follow me in. If I can give you time, we should be able to pincer whatever it is between my steel and your flames.”

Seiko nodded, hands up, fire burning. Tetsuro held out his Estus to her. She took it and drank a sip, healing her arm. There was only enough for one drink left.

Tetsuro pushed through the fog. Seiko didn’t hear any sudden fighting, but she waited ten seconds before following. As soon as she was through, one of the starved dogs from before was leaping at her. She ducked and the dog smacked into the fog as if it were a solid wall. Seiko turned and snapped her fingers, a flash of Combustion killing the dog. She heard heavy stone on stone and whirled to see Tetsuro backing up some stairs that dead-ended into a collapsed doorway. Something larger than a human, wearing a goat skull and wielding huge bone swords, was recovering from putting all its weight into a swing at him. Another dog was dead on the grass. Seiko palmed a Fireball and threw it at the creature. The flames exploded on its back and it doubled over, but more from surprise than pain.

“It’s a Capra Demon! A thing of Chaos! Get away from it!” yelled Tetsuro.

Seiko looked around, but there was nowhere to go. They were trapped in the alley, doors collapsed, fog covering the only way out. The Capra Demon turned on Seiko, cocking its head to one side, as if confused about why something as weak as her was attacking it. It walked back down the stairs, Tetsuro forgotten, raising one of its swords as if it were sneaking up on a fly to squash it. Seiko stood her ground and waited, the Demon unable to follow her gaze due to her lack of eyes in her Hollowed state. It swung suddenly, overhead, to cleave her in half. Seiko dodged to the side and started circling the Demon, spewing Fire Surge with both hands. 

Tetsuro ran down the stairs, toward the corner of the room, counter to Seiko’s strafing. The Demon was occupied with her, after all. The Demon seemed completely unaffected by her blue flames, and took another swing at her as it turned to face her, back-handed with its other sword. Seiko barely had time to see the attack coming. On reflex she put out her hands to catch the sword. Since the weapon was blunt, it worked for a brief half-second… Until the force of the swing sent Seiko flying back into the wall. The Capra Demon approached quickly, swords raised. Just as it crouched slightly to jump and slam both down on Seiko, Tetsuro’s dagger passed through the backs of its legs, cutting through muscle and tendons. The Demon collapsed awkwardly, though the flats of its blades still landed on Seiko.

\--

Unable to stand, the Capra Demon slashed down at Tetsuro, windmilling its left arm to do so without heed of its limits. The bone sword clanged off the stone wall, leaving the Capra’s arm floating uselessly in shock for a second. Tetsuro caught its wrist with one hand and sliced off its arm at the elbow with his broadsword. Seiko struggled free from under the other sword, backing away limply. The Demon flailed uselessly in a fit of rage, too animalistic to stop and figure out how to attempt to fight back as crippled as it was.

“That’s a Chaos Demon? Quelaana said they were ‘perversions of life.’”

“They are, from what I know. Jinta told me about the two Demons that had ventured up this far. That this one is here means we must be on the right track. Look there,” said Tetsuro, pointing.

There was a key tied to its belt.

“That had to be put there by human hands. I doubt this thing has the dexterity to tie a knot. I don’t like the implications of that, but I’m also willing to bet that means the way we’ve chosen is our best bet for getting into Blighttown from here.”

Tetsuro snatched up the key and cut it free. He stabbed his broadsword into the Demon’s side, but it stuck in a rib. Tetsuro had to pry it free, his boot on the Demon’s ribs for leverage, and try twice more before he could stab between its ribs while it flailed. Its flailing slowed and soon the fog lifted from the door. The Capra Demon’s soul split between Tetsuro and Seiko evenly and they left with their prize. 

Seiko looked at Tetsuro’s belt, about to ask for Estus, but saw that it was empty. Cracked ribs and severe bruises and all, she followed Tetsuro back up the stairs to the shortcut to Firelink. Even as injured as she was, Seiko pulled a face at the idea of walking through the aqueduct. Tetsuro crossed his arms, shaking his head.

“I should just leave you here, hurt as you are, for being so childish. But I don’t have the time or Estus to waste on you, so…”

He walked over, grabbed Seiko about the waist, and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She coughed in pain as her cracked ribs pressed against the armor plate on his shoulder.

“I don’t wanna hear it. Be happy I’m doing this much. You’re walking on the way back.”

He returned to Firelink with her over his shoulder, depositing her unceremoniously at the bonfire. She was healed by the bonfire’s power, and regained her Humanity using one of the few she’d earned in their journey so far. The two rested a while before returning to the aqueduct. Tetsuro walked purposefully forward, intent on ignoring Seiko until she came through to the other side. She looked at the running water with distaste, bunched her robe in one hand to keep it dry, and walked in. Her leather boots kept the water out, but the water was cold. She walked all the way down the aqueduct to the exit of the shortcut, seeing the Hollowed woman Tetsuro had mentioned. She was behind a gate, cupping water in her hands and splashing it on the wall.

\--

As they’d hoped, the key from the Capra Demon unlocked the thick metal door near the shortcut. It opened to a short set of stairs leading to a dark room, which also had a staircase in it, leading even further down.

“Looks like the right way, without a doubt.”

Tetsuro put up his shield and drew his broadsword.

“Down we go, then.”


	6. Chapter 6

**-Depths-**

Jinta sat by the bonfire, Hollow and exhausted. He was out of Humanity, and his sign was by the corner. Suddenly, his head jerked up.

“That’s it!” he said, jumping up. Humanity returned to him from his sign; he’d successfully completed a summon. He removed his sign, drew his two longswords, and moved forward. He knew the way out now, thanks to the one that summoned him, and he didn’t want to spend another second in the sewers.

\--

“I’m not sure I want to know what that thing is carving down there…” said Tetsuro, leaning over the wooden railing.

“Dog?” Seiko offered with false optimism.

The two were standing on a wooden platform on stilts over sewer water. There were picnic benches scattered about, aside from the two that were broken in the previous fight with a group of Hollows. Down below, on solid bricks, a large humanoid thing was swinging a large cleaving knife into a slab of meat. It had on a butcher’s smock, a sack on its head with eye-holes cut in, and simple pants. There were bones piled up all over the wall behind the figure.

“Do you know a dog that would sleep calmly next to something planning to eat another dog?” said Tetsuro, referencing the dog lying near the butcher, guarding a chest.

“We’re gonna have to go that way, unless we want to drop down off the sides of this platform to who-knows-where. I vote against potential one-way trips.”

Seiko walked over to the drop off the side. There was a door visible down the hallway they would end up in, closed, and a turn. She walked over and looked down the other hallway. The wall was blown open below her, there was another small platform over her, and a doorway at that end of the hall as well. This doorway was lit with a flickering light, as if from a torch.

“There’s a way into the water. It doesn’t look like a trap…” said Seiko.

“A last resort, regardless,” said Tetsuro.

“The stairs then?”

Tetsuro walked over to the stairs that led to the butcher. “Follow me.”

They walked down, Seiko keeping her eyes on the dog. She was right to, as it stood up right away and ran at them. She prepared to throw a Fireball, but was startled by the butcher snapping the wooden table it had been working on in half with a powerful swing. Instead of the Fireball, Seiko had to settle for swatting the dog aside before it tackled her. Tetsuro approached the butcher with balanced steps and slashed across its stomach. It hid incredibly tough skin under its rags, and his blade didn’t bite very deeply. The butcher ignored the wound and raised its cleaver like a guillotine, slamming it down. Tetsuro rolled past the butcher to avoid the attack, cutting down its back from shoulder to hip as soon as he gained his feet. The butcher tried to ignore him going for Seiko as she killed the dog, but Tetsuro started clanging his sword off his shield and yelling.

“Pay attention, you brain-dead oaf. Don’t you care if I split your flesh and spill your guts!?”

The butcher turned, snatching a meat-hook off its belt and swiping it at Tetsuro. The hook caught the plate strapped to his shoulder, yanking him forward. The butcher took a swing, horizontal. Tetsuro moved with the pull and ducked, then hopped back, almost losing his balance. The butcher swung, back-handed, while Tetsuro was trying not to fall backward. He put up his shield, absorbed the blow, and went flying backward, down a garbage chute.

Seiko had only turned around in time to see him disappear into the chute. She could hear him hit something only a second later, so she knew he wasn’t dead, but something about his fate pulled at a nerve in her. She flew into a rage, lashing out with a Fire Whip. The butcher cringed from the heat and turned to slash at Seiko. Seiko stepped in, caught the butcher’s wrist, stopping its attack dead, and punched it in the gut. The butcher, easily over two meters tall and hundreds of pounds of muscle, flew back into the wall next to the chest.

“Seiko?” echoed Tetsuro’s voice from the chute.

Seiko didn’t respond, hurling a Great Fireball at the butcher while it was dazed. The attack exploded on the butcher’s chest, engulfing it in blue flames. It screamed in a low, agonized voice, flailing and burning, but it stood. This only angered Seiko further, and she threw two more Great Fireballs, heedless of any chance of exhausting herself. Both attacks struck, causing the butcher to flail and cry out again, falling over and having a fit on the floor. It’s flailing slowed amidst the blue fire, and it finally died. Seiko stood over it, seething and taking hissing breaths through her clenched teeth.

“Seiko!”

Tetsuro had yelled several other times, but this was the first one to register with her since his initial outcry. She came to her senses, noticeably tired but needing only a minute to rest, and ran over to the chute.

“There you are! What happened up there?”

“Sorry… I don’t know… The butcher is dead, though.”

“Judging by the screaming and spitting of fire, I’m willing to bet that’s your fault. Are you ok?”

“Just winded. Should I follow?”

“No! There’s no way back up. I’ll have to find another way back to you. If you find a bonfire, or if you find another way down, look for a ladder near some sewer grates. I can see something like that from up here and the bars look wide set. I bet you could squeeze through, but I’m too big. We’ll meet up later, alright? Be careful.”

\--

Seiko nodded, backing away from the chute. She walked over to the chest the dog had been guarding, opening it to find a small ornately carved box. She reached in, picked up the box and opened it. Inside, an ember the size of a Humanity burned. Seiko closed the box and held on to it in her right hand, her fingers barely long enough to grip it. She went to the next set of stairs going down to find a stagnant pool of sewer water, the pool underneath the wooden platform with the benches. She looked across the pool to see a pile of rubble that could be climbed back up into a hallway. It was the same hole she’d seen earlier, so she went back up the other set of stairs to the platform and dropped down where the hole let out. Since there was an arched doorway immediately to the left, Seiko tried that direction first. The room she came into was a dead end, full of crates and barrels, and smelled thickly of blood.

“You!”

Seiko heard a voice and looked around, spotting someone stuck in a barrel in the back corner of the room.

“Yes, you! Here! Over- No! Behind you!”

Seiko had started walking across the room already, but turned around quickly. Another butcher had entered the room and was running at her with its cleaver held overhead to chop her in half. Seiko hopped aside, unleashing a Fire Whip as she did. The butcher missed its swing, flailing its free hand at the flames and turning to swing again. Seiko only had her left hand to work with, ducking the swing and punching for the butcher’s elbow. Bones were crushed as her fist hit home, and the butcher dropped its cleaver, staggering back in pain. Seiko snatched up the cleaver and slashed backhanded at the butcher, disemboweling it in one stroke, but accidentally crushing the cleaver’s handle. The butcher fell to its knees, then to the floor, good hand over its wound to keep its innards where they belonged.

“Help me out of this thing, please!” yelled the man Seiko had seen earlier.

Seiko started running toward him when the cleaver in her hand snapped off above her grip, the metal too thin to support the weight of the blade. Seiko looked at the crushed handle left in her hand, dropped it, and quickly shoved aside some barrels to get to the man. She tore off a few planks from the barrel he was trapped in so he could escape. He scrambled free and looked himself over, wearing hooded rags and thick leather boots.

“Phew… Thank you. Dearly! I might have ended up her dinner if not for you.”

“Her?”

“The butcher there, of course. I am Laurentius, a Pyromancer of The Great Swamp. You’re quite the talented Pyromancer yourself, I see.”

“Quelaana taught me,” said Seiko, with a proud smile.

“Que- You don’t mean a Chaos Witch herself taught you Pyromancy? Do you?”

Seiko nodded, confused. “She named me too. Seiko, ‘Blue Child.’”

“That’s… That’s quite an honor. D’you remember where she is? Would she still be there?!”

“She’s in Blighttown, but she said normal people couldn’t see her. I don’t know what that means.”

“‘Normal people can’t see her…’ Hmm… That is curious, indeed.”

“She only taught me basic Pyromancy. She said I should learn the rest on my own, or find another teacher.”

“I see. Flames only, then? Well, I believe we can help each other. I’ve got nothing left right now… I’m exhausted. I’ll head back to Firelink to rest. Can we meet up there? We could trade knowledge. I’d have more confidence about being able to find Quelaana if I knew some of her Pyromancy. If you’ll teach me a bit of what she taught you, I’ll show you what I know as well.”

“Deal!”

“Right, then.”

\--

The two walked out of the room.

“I know the way back,” said Laurentius. “I’ll wait at Firelink and do some practicing of my own until you get there. Be careful on your way.”

Seiko nodded. “You too.”

Laurentius slid down the rubble into the pool of water, trudging across to the brick platform, up to the wooden one, and on his way out. Seiko waited until she was sure he was out of The Depths before moving on, heading toward the other door she’d seen. The door opened to mossy bricks and a set of stairs, leading down into a chamber with a thin layer of water at the bottom, less than ankle-height. The smell was unbelievable. Seiko cringed, but she saw a way forward in the chamber, so she continued. The way ahead constricted to a narrow passage, into another chamber, a narrow doorway, and then a larger hall with grates near where the walls met the floor. Sewer water flowed lazily from the right to the left.

Seiko started down the hallway when something caught her eye. The ceiling was moving, covered in living slime. Seiko shivered in disgust.

“Hey! Is that you?” a familiar voice echoed.

Seiko looked around and didn’t see anyone.

“Down through the grate!”

Seiko looked through the grates to her right and left, spotting Tetsuro to the left in a large chamber near a giant dead rat. There was a battle axe stuck in one of its eyes, but that wasn’t the killing blow.

“Tetsuro!”

“You’re near that ladder I was talking about. Do you see a doorway up ahead?”

Seiko looked down the hall. “There are two. One has a big, rusted lock, though.”

“If the other comes this way, that’s the right way to the ladder and grate. I have a key that might fit that lock. Come to me first!”

Their conversation echoed well, since they’d had to raise their voices to cover distance. Some of the slime on the ceiling dripped down in a blob bigger than Seiko, flattening into the water. It started sliding toward her, quivering. Seiko whipped a Fireball at it, revolted. The slime caught fire instantly, burning into a charred resin.

“Don’t like bugs? What’s with you?!” He couldn’t see what she’d attacked.

“It was slime!”

“Slime?”

“Living slime!”

“That’s… Disgusting.”

“It is!”

“Well, come on, then.”

Seiko looked up again, at the moving ceiling. She held up her free left hand, still holding the box with the large ember in it in her right, and started running down the passage, unleashing Fire Surge as she did. Burning flakes of the slimes rained into the water behind her as she ran, eyes closed in repulsion. She heard her boots change from water to metal grates, and stopped, finding herself in front of the locked door. She turned around to see charred remains stuck to the ceiling and burnt flakes fluttering into the running water. She took the path Tetsuro had told her about, finding herself walking across more grates after going down a set of stone stairs. Next to the stairs, going down through the grating she was standing on, was a ladder. Tetsuro was standing in a chamber to the left, on a lower level. Seiko jumped down, ignoring the ladder, and ended up on Tetsuro’s level, but on the other side of the wide-set bars he’d mentioned earlier. There was another shield resting on his back.

“Here, take the key and this shield. They should help.”

“I found this,” said Seiko, holding out the box. “There’s an ember in it.”

“A smithing ember?!”

“Yes?” Seiko had no idea.

“I’ll take it! Good find.”

They traded items.

“I’ll wait here for you. Go see if you can get that door open.”

Seiko threw the shield up to the top of the ladder, climbed up, retrieved it, and went back up the short set of stairs to the locked door. The key worked on the first try, the padlock dropping onto the stone with a thunk. It opened to a narrow hallway that ended in a small chamber with a bonfire in it, the same one Jinta had waited at while he’d been summoned. Seiko returned to the ladder.

“It’s to a bonfire!”

“Damn… Here, take my flask and go fill it there. Do you see any way I could meet up with you?”

Seiko jumped down, leaving the shield above the ladder. She pointed to the door on the opposite side of the chamber as the ladder.

“Maybe that?” She took the Estus Flask from Tetsuro, then walked over to the door. She tried to open it, but found it locked from the other side. She tried the key in the lock, but it wouldn’t open. The door was made of wood, so she punched through it near the lock and ripped it off, causing the door to snap open toward her. It led to a long staircase down.

“It leads really far down,” she reported.

“As far down as that?” asked Tetsuro, gesturing to the huge opening in the chamber he was in. The water from above was gushing out sluice gates, joined by the lazily flowing water Tetsuro was standing in. Seeing that made it appear as if what he was standing in, as well as all the water in the areas above, was overflow.

“I think. I’ll check after I fill the flask. Hang on.”

She went back to the bonfire, filled the flask, had to kill a Hollow that was also in the room near the bonfire, and returned to Tetsuro. She gave him the flask, held up the new shield he’d given her, and went down the stairs. At the bottom, she found another chamber with some stagnant sewer water less than ankle height, a few slimes and passive rats as big as she was, and three new paths. She walked into the chamber a bit when she heard Tetsuro yell. She looked left and there he was, up above the sluice gates. There was enough room on either side of the massive hole the water was being dumped into for one person to walk down on either side. Tetsuro was too far away and his voice was drowned out by the crashing waterfall from the sluice gates, so Seiko only waved. Tetsuro moved to one side and stepped up to walk down the sides of the hole. He took a step forward onto the decline, found the stone more slippery than he expected, and was all at once sliding down the path on his back, hands overhead. He hit the floor of the chamber Seiko was in on his back, sliding a bit further over into the brick wall. He hit the wall feet first, bent his knees and stopped. It took him a moment to wipe the look of mortal terror off his face and stand up.

“That was… Not how I expected that to go.”

“Lucky you didn’t fall.”

“No kidding.” Tetsuro looked himself over, making sure he hadn’t lost anything. Everything was still on his belt, including his Estus Flask and the box holding the ember he’d put in his half-empty pouch of repair powder.

“If it’s alright with you, after that, I’d like to head back up to the bonfire and rest. We can head back down here and figure out the way forward later. You look a bit tired yourself.”

“I had to use a lot of Pyromancy…”

“Yeah. Rest it is. Let’s go, then.”

The two went back up the stairs to the bonfire Seiko had found. Tetsuro put the ember into his bottomless box, depositing his broadsword and switching it for a Balder Side Sword for thrusting in the narrow sewer passages. The two sat down by the fire, resting a while...


	7. Chapter 7

**-Blighttown-**

Jinta picked himself up out of the slime he’d landed in. The mud ruined his leather armor, soaking it through with poisonous gunk. He turned around, looking up at the rotten board that had given way and shaking his head. His armor heavy with the mud slowly working itself out of the gaps, Jinta trudged back to the bonfire. He sat down, rested, dried his armor and deposited his longswords into his Bottomless Box. He replaced one with the estoc he’d held onto since he’d first found it while starting his journey, and to replace the other he took the falchion he’d found off his back, strapping it to his belt instead. He stood, testing the new weapons. He held the falchion in his dominant right hand, slashing with it. Definitely better than his longsword for slashing. He slashed and stabbed with the estoc, longer than his old sword and a bit lighter and thinner. Also better for what he’d been using his longsword for, since he wasn’t left-handed. Jinta paused his journey to familiarize himself with his new weapons. His style didn’t change much, slashing with his right weapon and stabbing or parrying with his left, but the new weapons had new weights and lengths that he didn’t want to forget in the heat of the moment. As he trained, the world moved on without him, including Tetsuro, Seiko, and Solaire…

 

**-Depths-**

Well rested, Tetsuro and Seiko returned to the stairs to resume their progress. They descended, returning to the chamber below where the water from The Depths was draining to. Tetsuro approached the nearest foe, a slime, and slashed at it with his Balder sword. Though the slime was thin, his sword didn’t pass through completely, getting stuck. The slime shivered and part of it climbed up his sword, getting a better grip. Another shiver and the entire blade, up to the guard, was inside the slime. Seiko snapped her fingers, using Combustion and lighting the slime on fire. It immediately shrank back and burned to a husk.

“Looks like if we run into any more of those, they’re yours,” said Tetsuro, inspecting his blade for damage.

“There are three paths, but I’m willing to bet that those huge doors are locked. No getting through there without a key. This one in front of us appears to go back into the sewers. I’d rather not stay here long, and something tells me we want to go through that gate. There’s also the other doorway. It might be best to check the other way first and see what’s through there before we decide.”

Seiko nodded her agreement and started walking toward the other doorway. They walked down a narrow, damp passage, arriving in the largest chamber yet. Support pillars several meters thick held up the ceiling, which had a large break in it that let in sunlight. There were a few levels to where they were, built almost like the inside of a castle, complete with ramparts instead of railing. The massive chamber was empty except for a body wearing hard leather armor.

“Is that Jinta?” said Tetsuro, leaning over the side for a better look. A bolt of magic hit his helmet, knocking him over.

“Mage!” said Seiko, pulling Tetsuro out of its line of fire. “You ok?”

Tetsuro had a hand over the right side of his face. “Peachy.”

He reached down for his flask, drinking Estus and moving his hand. Seiko could see tendons, muscle, fat, and skin stitch back over his cheekbone.

“Let’s find a way up to that thing.”

They started exploring the chamber, but found no way to reach the mage up above them.

“There must be a way up to it in the other direction. If we try to go down into the chamber, that thing will harass us the entire time. We should turn back…”

They backed off, heading into the path that lead them into the sewers, fighting off a few giant rats as they picked their way through the passages. They came across several forks in the passage and finally backed off from that path as well.

“I get the feeling we’ll be lost if we try to go through this way. I have a few prism stones, but I’d rather use those to test heights than crawl around in sewers. The only other thing I could try is to fire back at the mage with a bow and some arrows. At that distance, though, I doubt I’ll be accurate. I don’t have the eye for long distance shots like that, especially shooting up at an angle like that while under fire myself. We’ll just have to keep an eye on the mage and move forward. If that  _ is _ Jinta down there, we need to get him out if he’s not Hollow… Or dead.”

They returned to the large chamber.

\--

“I found a big crossbow!” reported Seiko from a set of stairs. Tetsuro turned to look and only saw her hooded head poking up. He walked over and followed her, finding a golden summon sign on the ground before reaching the crossbow. He touched it and they waited. In a few seconds, a figure emerged from the sign. It was Knight Solaire, sword and shield in hand.

“Greetings!” said Solaire, muffled under his helmet. “Good to see you again, Tetsuro. And well met, m’lady.”

“Seiko.”

“Ahh. I am Knight Solaire. You’ve lagged a bit, I see, Tetsuro. I hope The Depths didn’t cause you as much trouble as Jinta.”

“He was here?” asked Tetsuro.

“Oh, yes. I summoned him when I was through exploring and he expressed that he had been hopelessly lost until he’d run completely out of Humanity.”

Tetsuro leaned over to Seiko. “Told you it was a bad idea to try and navigate the place.”

Seiko looked confused. “I agreed with you, though…”

“Did you not come through The Depths?” asked Solaire.

“We’ve been able to work together and make a few paths of our own. Do you know how to get to the mage overhead?”

“Ahh, the Channeler? I should be able to deal with it once we start the fight.”

“Fight?”

“So, I caught you your first time? Excellent. Then I might save you even more trouble. There’s a horribly deformed dragon that makes its home here. You’ll need to fight it if you want to continue into Blighttown, as it has the key.”

“Did Jinta?” asked Seiko.

“He was the one who helped me through the fight my first time. He wasn’t able to hurt it very much, but he distracted it long enough to buy me time. With the three of us now, it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Well, let’s stop waiting around. This sounds like it will be interesting, and I need to ring that second bell.”

“You’ve actually summoned me as I was making my way toward it. Your path is dark and winding, and the next big arena is the home of a corrupted Daughter of Chaos.”

Tetsuro and Seiko looked at each other.

“What? Do you find something I said strange?”

“Did she wear robes like these?” asked Seiko, spreading her arms to gesture to herself.

“She didn’t wear anything. From the waist down she was a horrible demon like a spider, much bigger than a human.”

“Not Quelaana, then,” said Tetsuro. “That’s a relief. Thanks for the news.”

“Of course. Shall we?” said Solaire, walking over to the last set of stairs and starting down them. Tetsuro followed, finding a wall of fog blocking the entrance to the massive chamber.

“Gimme a minute,” said Tetsuro, following Seiko to the crossbow. It was large, unwieldy, and he didn’t have any ammo for it anyway. They left it and joined Solaire near the fog.

“After you,” said Solaire.

Tetsuro pushed through the fog, followed by Solaire, then Seiko.

\--

“Spread out, you two. While one person keeps its attention, the other two can attack. I will move aside and take care of the Channeler before it makes the fight worse.”

Seiko moved to the right while Tetsuro moved forward and to the left. Sure enough, the head of something poked over the edge of the chasm at the other end of the chamber. Judging by the head, it looked to be a lizard that might be five meters or so long. Tetsuro took a few more steps forward, waiting for it to scramble up and attack him. Seiko moved up as well, hands glowing a rich blue, eyes faintly glowing sky blue. After the dragon looked from Seiko to Tetsuro a few times, it seemed to decide on Tetsuro, finally moving. Only it wasn’t five meters long. Or the entire head. 

A gigantic claw reached up out of the chasm to pull up a section of this nightmare’s body, then another and another and another and another, until a three-sectioned dragon stood more than halfway to the ceiling of the chamber. If it stood on its rear legs, it could touch the stone ceiling. The lower two sections looked normal enough, but the section that rose up to face forward was made entirely of rows of teeth and the tiny head they’d first seen. The thing let out a horrible roar and got down on all sixes, charging at Tetsuro bodily. He dropped his guard and ran to the side, diving out of the way and slamming to the bricks heavily. The Gaping Dragon, the corrupted beast Solaire had warned them about, skidded to a stop before smashing its head into the wall. It took pause, sucking in great, shaking breaths after its exertion.

“It’s sick…!” realized Seiko, saying it aloud to Solaire, who was standing next to her and facing away from the dragon, looking up at the Channeler.

“Oh, yes. There’s an awful lot of toxin in Blighttown. This dragon was once a majestic thing, and a worthy foe. But treat it with respect, sick as it is, because it is still a powerful enemy.”

Tetsuro stood and ran over, hacking at the nearest leg. His Balder sword sliced through withered scales down to bone, revealing bones with uneven rises and a bile-green tint. They appeared to have been black, once. Tetsuro swung again, perfectly into the rent he’d made, thinking to chop into bone and further weaken the limb. The bone was far tougher than human bones, and his sword chipped on impact. Tetsuro pulled back quickly, his sword couldn’t support its own weight, and it snapped two-thirds of the way up the blade. Tetsuro looked at it in surprise, but his attention was pulled back to the dragon as it finally recovered, standing its top third upright again.

“This thing’s bones are harder than metal!” he called out. He glanced back to see Solaire rolling aside to dodge a bolt of magic, then ready a Lightning Spear. Seiko was running forward, preparing to jump on the dragon’s back.

“It’s sick! We can tire it out!” responded Seiko as she ran. She leapt up with all her might, jumping almost five meters in the air. Tetsuro was briefly dumbfounded at the sight. Seiko landed on its back and put her hands out in front of her, spraying Fire Surge with both hands. The flames flowered as they came in contact with the Gaping Dragon’s uppermost section, but did next to nothing.

“It may be sick, but it was still a dragon!” said Solaire.

Seiko looked around, struggled to keep her balance as the dragon turned and swung one of its middle legs at Tetsuro. Tetsuro blocked, but was thrown back. Solaire threw a Lightning Spear at the dragon, the Channeler dead, shearing a line of scales off the tiny head atop all the teeth. The Gaping Dragon roared in response and whipped its long tail back and forth, trying to crush Solaire. Solaire blocked the second swipe and hacked into the tail with his straightsword. He, too, cut down to the bone, but was unable to do much else. The exchange gave Seiko an idea, however.

“Tetsuro! Cut the base of the tale for me!” she yelled, running down the dragon’s back. The dragon twisted its top section this way and that, trying to get an angle where it could reach back and snatch her up. While it was distracted, Tetsuro ran to its rear and put his shield on his back, using what was left of his sword in both hands. He chopped downward as hard as he could, slicing open the dragon’s hide right where the tail met the body. He was about to swing again when he saw the dragon raise its rear leg to step on him, so he dove aside, hands still over his head with his sword. He landed face-first in some residue he’d rather not have identified, but the dragon missed. In his place, Solaire made the other cut, taking advantage of the distraction.

The dragon appeared to be dizzy after flailing about to grab Seiko, pausing and burping audibly. Seiko jumped down, put her arms around the base of the tail as best she could, put her foot inside the wound Solaire had made, and pulled. The dragon howled in pain, and an opening between its vertebrae came into view. Solaire, still standing by, took a step forward and slashed, his plain sword passing through the muscle and sinew smoothly. The tail came off in Seiko’s arms and she stumbled back before dropping it. The Gaping Dragon began to roar, but was cut short by a horrible retching sound. It leaned over and vomited a sickly dark green. The stuff coated the rear section of the chamber, some of it flowing down the pit where the Gaping Dragon had appeared from. The dragon only partially recovered, completely drained by the act. Oddly, no blood flowed from its wounds, even then.

\--

“How do we kill this thing? Or should we just wait for it to die on its own?” said Tetsuro. “At this rate, that wouldn’t surprise me…”

He drank Estus to recover from all the running, as well has his bruises from being smacked around. The drink also revitalized Solaire’s phantom. While they had time, Tetsuro passed the Estus to Seiko, who also drank. She handed it back, but she was more focused on trying to find a way to win the fight. Their foe was huge, even if it was sickly, and wouldn’t go down easily. Especially if they couldn’t get it to bleed out. Her fire was useless as well.

“As I said before we began,” said Solaire, “If you two can distract it, I should be able to bring it down with my lightning. It would be even better if you could lure it to the fore of the chamber, near where we came in. If I could stand in the direct sunlight from the opening above, my power would be greater.”

“I think we can do that. Seiko, can you use some flashy Pyromancy to get its attention? I’ll take some swipes at its legs and any teeth I can reach. That should get it riled up enough to come after us.”

Seiko nodded, putting up her hands and running over. She brandished a long Fire Whip, dazzling the Gaping Dragon and drawing its eyes to her. She spiraled another Fire Whip over her head as it turned, keeping it from looking at Tetsuro as he charged. The dragon tried to make a grab for her, but she leapt back, practically flying over the ground for three meters. Luckily for her, Tetsuro sliced out a small tooth and drew the dragon’s attention, because her boots landed on the slippery, wet bricks and she slid backwards into one of the support pillars in the chamber. She caught her balance in time to see Tetsuro running toward the fog door where they’d come in. Hiding under the supported floors, Tetsuro dodged the dragon’s limbs as it grabbed for him, teeth grossly oscillating in hunger and anticipation.

Boots in the slime, Solaire stood in the rear of the chamber, standing in one of the sparse rays of sunlight from the broken ceiling above. Sword sheathed, shield on his back, he raised a fist and called in the sunlight. From thin air, small sparks gathered in an instant to form the javelin shape of a Lightning Spear. Solaire pitched it at the Gaping Dragon, right at the back of its top section. The spear blasted off scales and scorched the flesh beneath, but Solaire was far from finished. He formed one after the other, flinging Lightning Spears with expert form another five times. Each bolt that struck stripped scales and wounded the dragon, even as it struggled to turn around to face the threat. Solaire was holding his first Great Lightning Spear, prepared to continue his barrage, when the dragon nearly fell over, then roared. Solaire threw the spear right into its open maw. The roar turned into an inhuman scream and the dragon’s limbs shook violently.

It slammed its top section down, preparing to charge at Solaire, heedless of the pit behind him. Solaire readied another Great Lightning Spear, aiming. The Gaping Dragon ran at him, all six limbs dragging it over the bricks. Solaire threw his spear, pegging the dragon right in its tiny head. The dragon died instantly, sliding over the slick floor and pushing Solaire over the edge. His phantom fell, fading out quickly and vanishing. The dragon slid to a stop with its top section hanging over the edge. Its soul split, shared between Tetsuro and Seiko, and the fog lifted from the door. Tetsuro walked over, careful of his footing and balance, looking over the edge. On one of the bottommost teeth in the Gaping Dragon’s mouth, wedged between teeth, hung a thick metal key on a thin, rusted chain. The pair of Undead returned to the bonfire so Tetsuro could retrieve a spear. Seiko had to then spend a few minutes waiting and watching, while Tetsuro used his spear to carefully recover the key.

\--

Seiko pushed the huge metal doors open, revealing the massive sewer pipe that led to Blighttown. There was a ladder to the right that led down onto the wooden scaffolding built into the pipes that created their path downward. Tetsuro and Seiko looked down into the blackness, unsure of what to expect next...


	8. Chapter 8

**-Blighttown-**

“‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be fine, Seiko. They’d have to hit me in the-’” Stomach backflip. “‘- face…’”

Tetsuro pulled the blowdart out of his cheek and swayed on his feet. Seiko hid behind a wall of wooden planks, features painted with concern.

“I’ll go back,” said Seiko.

“Giving up on me alr-” he started to ask, reaching for a pouch on his belt, probably for some of the moss he’d bought earlier. He was too slow, the dizziness causing him to fall over. His armor cracked and fell inward, turning to dust along with his body as he died.

\--

“If I boost you up, would you mind retrieving that sword?” asked Tetsuro. The two had made it to a bonfire somewhere in Blighttown on their next attempt. Tetsuro had spied another sword like the one he’d won from the Undead merchant in the burg and was curious.

Seiko shrugged and got up to follow him. She walked past him and jumped, easily catching the edge and climbing up.

“I, uhh… I forgot about that…” said Tetsuro. “I suppose it makes sense if your arms are so strong that your legs would be too.”

Seiko jumped down, sword and sheath in hand. She looked it over, drew the sword part of the way from its scabbard, then sheathed it again and handed it to him.

“I’m going to guess it’s too light for you,” said Tetsuro, looking over the weapon himself. “It doesn’t look much different than the curved sword I already have. I suppose I’ll carry them both and see if I can find a difference.”

He went to the bonfire for his Bottomless Box, exchanging his equipment. He took a baldric from some of the armor he’d taken from fallen enemies and strapped the Uchigatana to his back, wearing his new blade, the Iaito, on his belt.

“A slicing weapon will do me well here anyway,” said Tetsuro, drawing the Uchigatana. “Nothing down here has worn any real armor.”

“Fire is safer, though,” said Seiko.

Tetsuro looked back out at the scaffolding they’d been on before looking back at her.

“I really want you to know I’m surprised you haven’t set the whole of Blighttown on fire yet. How that scaffolding didn’t immediately start burning, I don’t know. I’m inclined to think it’s some magic, cast by a strong wizard a long time ago.”

“I doubt they’re still alive, then. Quelaana would have told me to seek them out instead.”

“You were seeking strength, right? You must have enough souls by now. Have you tried using them for infusion?”

“I haven’t…”

Seiko sat by the bonfire, reaching out to it. After a moment, she relaxed.

“Did it work?” asked Tetsuro.

“I think so. I don’t remember ever doing this before. I should have a little better control of my strength.”

“More finesse would do you some good, in more ways than one. If I find another longsword I’m willing to part with, I’ll let you try again. As it is, I don’t have any doubles collected at the moment, so I’ll have to take your word for it. Shall we go?”

Seiko nodded and stood up. Tetsuro put up his shield and they moved forward…

\--

Tetsuro backed slowly up a wooden ramp. Seiko was already on the platform he was moving to, and was watching the ramp from above it on Tetsuro’s right. Yet another ogre, holding a club soaked in whatever awful poison gave Blighttown its name, was lumbering out of a cave they’d need to go through. When it got close enough, Seiko lashed out with Pyromancy. The rotten chunks covering the thing, along with its rags, burned quickly. It fell onto the ramp, smoking. Seiko was breathing hard, but still ready for more.

“I hope we don’t run into too many more of those. They’re quite a pain in cramped-”

A wave of dread he couldn’t place passed through Tetsuro. He started looking around, his head on a swivel, eyes shifty.

“What’s wrong?” asked Seiko.

“Perhaps restoring my Humanity was a bad idea. You ever hear of Darkwraiths?”

“No.”

“Well, you might have to fight one. I’ve never been invaded by one before, but Jinta warned me about them. They hunt for Humanity. He warned me away from them. Said their way of life would appeal to me as a fighter, but that they were evil.”

“You’re not evil… Are you?”

Tetsuro looked over at her. “I don’t hurt others just because I can, no. And I wouldn’t betray someone’s trust. But I’m not above a fight to the death. Nor am I above provoking a fight like that if I want to. I wouldn’t call myself evil, but I’m no saint, either.”

Tetsuro looked around again.

“We should keep moving, but keep an eye out. I have to take point, since my armor is better, as usual… But I need you to keep closer watch on our rear. And listen closely. I can’t shake this horrible feeling.”

\--

The two continued down, fighting ghouls and small dogs that could breathe fire if left unchecked too long. When the ground was at last in view, Tetsuro stopped them again.

“There’s that feeling again,” he said. “That shudder of danger down my spine.”

“I don’t feel anything,” said Seiko.

“Maybe you aren’t the one they’re after.”

“Why are you sure it’s an invader?”

Tetsuro took a moment to respond, looking back up the way they’d come.

“I’m not. I don’t know why I have that feeling, but I do. Let’s go.”

They went down the last wooden ramp. Something Seiko recognized crawled out from under the platform they’d been on. It was a brown bug the size of a man, a fire in its belly, silky bug wings unfolding. Its fire flared up and Seiko put up a hand, using Fire Surge. Her flame met the bug’s, causing them both to flare out where they met until Seiko’s pushed back toward the bug, engulfing it. She visibly sagged after, breathing labored.

“We need to find a bonfire… Soon…” said Tetsuro, seeing her condition.

They started trudging through the muck, Seiko managing to look displeased on top of exhausted. Tetsuro looked back at the charred bug.

“Call me crazy, but I don’t think that’s how fire is supposed to work. You didn’t do that to the dogs up above. Are there different types of fire I’m not aware of?”

Seiko yanked her boot out of the mud onto more solid dirt by a huge pillar. She leaned on the pillar, sliding down it to sit.

“Quelaana… Told me that Pyromancy is a representation of your inner self. She said all kinds existed, even things that weren’t fire. She warned me that I might fight enemies that used fire with a physical presence, or enemies that could breathe poison or acid. She made me fight those bugs as practice. Their fire is physical somehow.”

“‘Somehow?’”

“She never told me the difference.”

“Do you think she knew?”

“I don’t know. I think if she did, she would have told me. She had to teach me how to make my fire do that. Using fire like theirs feels different. It takes a different kind of concentration.”

“Have you tried using it on other enemies on our way?”

“Sometimes… But it doesn’t seem to make any difference. If I understood it better, maybe it would.”

“Maybe you could use a physical Fire Whip to grab an enemy? Or wrap it in fire?”

“That would be a lot harder than just burning it…”

“Good point. Are you ok to continue?”

Seiko huffed a breath and forced herself up. Tetsuro rounded the pillar…

And was nearly cleaved in two. He threw up his shield on reflex, his right hand shooting up to the Uchigatana. A massive cleaver scraped over his shield, slamming into the dirt between his feet. The cleaver, and its wielder, had a distinct red glow to them. The figure, a thick woman in rags with a sack over her head, and her blade were opaque, but not entirely. She was clearly a red phantom, an invader.

“Darkwraith!”

Before Tetsuro could do any more, the invader shifted her stance and threw her shoulder into his shield, pushing him back. Tetsuro stumbled in the mud, nearly falling over. As he windmilled to keep his balance, completely off guard, the invader lifted her cleaver over her head and charged forward. Seiko dashed between the two, catching both of the woman’s wrists. The woman was surprisingly strong and Seiko was exhausted. The two struggled, Seiko sinking into the mud trying to hold the larger woman back. Tetsuro recovered, drawing his sword and stepping in.

“Sorry!” he said in advance, and shoved Seiko aside. She still held the woman’s wrists, so as she fell, she took the woman with her part of the way. The woman bent over and stumbled forward, her turn to be off balance. Tetsuro slashed to cut her from shoulder to spine, but his blade passed right through her. It met enough resistance that Tetsuro could stop the blade before it hit the dirt and pull back. The woman broke free of Seiko’s grasp and sliced wildly for Tetsuro’s ribs. Tetsuro blocked with his shield, but was pushed off balance again into the mud. He recovered quickly and slashed at the woman again, his blade passing right through her head. She became much more opaque, turning a deeper red than before. The invader focused on Tetsuro, attacking again.

“Seiko! If you’re alright, I could  _ really _ use some help here!”

Seiko ran into the mud behind the invader, snapping her fingers and sending a wave of flame over the woman’s back. Tetsuro felt the wave of heat from the blue flames, but he held his ground. The invader shuddered, physically reacting to being burned, and turning such a deep crimson she was nearly black.

“She’s fading! Finish her!” said Tetsuro, chopping overhead. The invader flailed her own blade, slapping his out of his hand and punching him haphazardly in the chest with her off-hand. Tetsuro nearly fell over, throwing up his shield as soon as he could to keep from being smothered by another wave of heat from Seiko’s Combustion. The invader shook, wreathed in flames, and evaporated into a mist, dissipating quickly.

Seiko nearly passed out, caught from falling face-first into the mud by Tetsuro. He bent down, throwing her over his shoulder with a grunt.

“Stay with me, Seiko. I see some solid dirt up ahead. I’m gonna set you down and come back for that sword.”

“Uh-huh…”

Tetsuro made sure he was several paces onto the dirt before setting Seiko down. He leaned her up against the side of the enormous chasm they were in, a natural wall.

“Stay awake. Keep an eye out. I’ll be back in just a second.”

“Wraith…!” said Seiko with as much force as she could, raising a hand and spraying a sad excuse for Fire Surge past Tetsuro. He whirled, drawing the katana on his hip and slashing in one move. Both the weak fire and his slash connected, causing the new red phantom to leap back. It looked like a knight in spiked armor. Even his sword and shield had serrated spikes on them.

“Neither I nor poor Mildred deserve to be called Darkwraiths,” said the phantom.

“You’re red phantom invaders. Is there a difference? And should I care?” asked Tetsuro, shield up.

“There IS a difference, and yes, you’d better. I have my reasons, not that it’s your business, but any Darkwraith I’ve ever met was simply amassing Humanity for their own gain. Mildred’s just a harmless cannibal.”

“Harml- Cann-... Listen to yourself! No matter. So there  _ were _ two of you. I’m guessing you invaded first and followed us?”

“Very perceptive. Not perceptive enough to realize I was watching you, though. Now why don’t you do me a favor and fall on your sword before I feed you mine. I need your Humanity.”

“I’m not inclined to give you anything but the fight of your life. Reasons or no, I need my Humanity right where it is in my possession.”

“You’re not really going to fight me while protecting her, are you?” asked the phantom, stepping forward threateningly, raising his spiked shield.

“I’ll do you one better… I’ll beat you without letting you anywhere near her.”

“Hmph!”

\--

A/N Music: La Storia by Hiromi Kikuta (BRS TV)

\--

The red phantom put up his shield. Tetsuo was on dirt, but he didn’t have much room to move without stepping into the mud. Seiko was behind him a little less than a pace as well, so he couldn’t back up without exposing her to danger.

“What’s your name, lowly knight?” asked the phantom.

“Name yourself before asking someone elses.”

“Ahh, you’re no stranger to fighting other sane people if you know some etiquette. I am Kirk, Knight of Thorns.”

“Weaponmaster Tetsuro.”

Kirk wasted no more time, stepping forward and slashing. He seemed to completely ignore the thick mud he was standing in, even in armor that looked just as heavy as what Tetsuro was wearing. Tetsuro parried the overhead strike and slashed diagonally at Kirk. Kirk blocked and kept stepping forward. Tetsuro nearly panicked, instead he kicked Kirk in the chest to back him up. Kirk stumbled back, caught his balance, and readied himself again. Kirk stepped in and thrust his spiked shield forward. Tetsuro presented his shield, but angled it so the force would redirect downward. As the two shields moved down from colliding in such a way, both knights had the same idea and slashed diagonally. Kirk’s stout barbed sword knocked a huge chip into Tetsuro’s Iaito and the swords stuck together, Iaito caught in the thorns.

“Why are your weapons solid if your body is not?!”

Kirk didn’t answer, instead walking forward again, even as their weapons were locked together. Tetsuro shifted his feet, throwing his weight off to the side and swinging his arms. The motion freed his sword and sent Kirk stumbling to his right, into the mud and now in front of Seiko. Tetsuro didn’t waste time worrying about his damaged sword, stepping between Kirk and Seiko.

“You’re not capitalizing on these openings you keep creating. You’re going to lose,” said Kirk, having recovered and readied again.

Tetsuro kept his shield up, sword at the ready. “You’re still feeling me out and letting me create openings with your amateurish mistakes. What kind of fool in a sword fight gets so close he can’t swing his sword?”

Kirk lowered his weapons, his stance and head giving off an aura of disappointment. He walked dutifully forward, not bothering to guard. When he was almost in striking range, Kirk lept forward, rolling. He nearly tackled Tetsuro, who was forced to step aside. Instead, Kirk regained his feet right in front of Seiko, who barely had her eyes open. He slashed down at her but found her suddenly out of reach. Tetsuro had sheathed his sword, grabbed Kirk by the lip of his shield, and yanked him back. One of the thorns bit through Tetsuro’s thick gloves, leaving his ring and middle finger bleeding. Kirk stumbled back into the mud and Tetsuro stood between him and Seiko once more. He put a hand on his sword and waited for Kirk.

“Don’t you think you should get serious if you’re going to be giving me ‘the fight of my life?’”

Tetsuro didn’t say a word, he just waited. His shield was off to his side and his blade wasn’t drawn. To Kirk, it almost seemed like bait.

“What are you doing?” asked Kirk.

“Getting serious.”

“Y-”

The instant Tetsuro heard any more sound from Kirk, he stepped in, faster than Kirk expected, and slashed on the draw with Iaito. The blade passed right through Kirk’s waist, hitting the inside of his shield. Tetsuro struck with the edge of his kite shield, slamming it into Kirk’s helmet. It passed through Kirk’s head, and he was blind. Kirk slashed wildly. Tetsuro ducked and slid to the side, stepping past Kirk in the mud. When he moved his shield, completing his oddly contorted maneuver, he wasn’t where Kirk could see him, and slashed down Kirk’s back.

Kirk nearly faded out, saw how Seiko was in front of him unguarded, but now his enemy was behind him. Kirk chose to whirl around and face Tetsuro, swinging his shield around to precede his turn. Tetsuro’s sword was sheathed again, shield out of the way. Kirk almost spoke again but remembered how Tetsuro had taken advantage of the lapse in focus. He was also cautious of making the first move because of their previous clashes. Tetsuro shifted his feet, moving forward a bit without losing any balance, hindered by the muck. Kirk prepared his shield to block Tetsuro’s slash on the draw, stepping in and raising his sword. At the last second, instead of slash, Kirk thrust his shield forward. Tetsuro whipped his shield around, stepping in himself to prepare, then using his whole body to throw both shields up. Kirk slashed down, Tetsuro slashed on the draw, and both struck.

Kirk’s sword bit through Tetsuro’s layered leather and left a small chip in the metal plate on his shoulder. It scraped down his chest, thorns biting to the bone, leaving a slash all the way from Tetsuro’s collarbone to his hip. Tetsuro’s slash, on the other hand, spelled the end of Kirk’s phantom, causing it to dissolve into mist and fade away.

\---

Out of Estus from the way down, Tetsuro sheathed his sword, intensely painful with his wound, and trudged back over to Seiko. Her eyes were heavily lidded, nearly glazed over. She didn’t even have the strength to react to the duel she’d witnessed.

“Get-” Tetsuro convulsed in pain. “Get ready to get mud in your clothes…”

With his right arm, Tetsuro reached around and grabbed Seiko by the back of her neck, bundling her black-hemmed robes in his fist. It was hard to keep a grip with his bleeding fingers, but he managed to keep hold of Seiko long enough to drag her forward toward the sewer pipe he’d seen. Seiko knew about the bonfire there, having trained in the chamber beyond it, but when Tetsuro rounded the bend and it came into view he felt like it was a gift made just for him. As if whoever had created the bonfire in that exact spot had known he’d need it. He deposited Seiko next to the fire, laying on the slanted stone, and sat heavily with his back to the wall. Before he could even think to stop himself, his eyes closed and he fell asleep, out of energy and soaked in stale adrenaline.


	9. Chapter 9

**-Blighttown-**

Tetsuro awoke at length, looked around, and stood. There were no immediate threats, but Seiko was gone. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned to look up the sewer pipe, which was a ramp coming out of the mud leading to another, vertical pipe. Flickers of azure and sky blue told him Seiko was in the chamber, using Pyromancy. Tetsuro drew his sword and ran up the ramp as quickly as he could. He came to a stop at the lip of a circular chamber, two or three meters deep. Seiko was standing in the chamber, both hands focused on a bright flame, shaping it with the motion of her hands. If one hand moved away, the flame tried to follow while remaining anchored to the same spot. It shifted into elliptical shapes as Seiko manipulated it.

Tetsuro chose not to bother her, instead returning to the bonfire to use the souls he’d amassed to infuse himself with power, then went to retrieve the Uchigatana he’d lost in his fight with Mildred. The guard was barely sticking out of the mud, but he was able to find it. He slashed to the side a few times, flinging mud off of the blade before sheathing it on his back and going back to the bonfire. He pulled his Bottomless Box from the fire and set about repairing his gear. While he was doing so, Seiko returned, looking tired. She rested, Tetsuro repaired her gloves and leather cuirass, and once they were fully prepared they set out.

\--

“That wheel is the way back to Firelink,” said Seiko, pointing it out as they passed by.

“Good to know. I take it that’s how you got out of here the first time, then?”

“Right.”

“And what about the huge tree in the other direction? There’s still a lot to see. I’m not too fond of the idea of going into a lair covered that thickly with spider webs.”

They both looked ahead, to a huge mound covered in white webs and roots poking out of the ground. There was an opening in plain view, and a few ogres were carrying large rocks away from somewhere beyond the mound.

“It’s safe enough for them to work,” said Seiko.

“And what if the next powerful enemy is just a large ogre? Or their king?”

“But then why the spider webs?”

“Maybe they killed whatever made it. Or maybe they’re webs of fungus and not spider webs.”

“Fungus can do that?”

“Your memories really  _ are _ a mess, aren’t they?”

Seiko looked up at an angle, thinking. “I don’t feel like I ever learned that before, though. So far, when I think I should remember something and I don’t, I can tell. Like where I’m from or my name or how I used to fight. It’s like whatever it is is right on the tip of my tongue but I can’t find the right words. This is different.”

“Sorry to bring it up. I’m not very funny, am I?”

Seiko looked at him with something on her face near concern. “Not really. Were you trying to be?”

“Nevermind… Let’s just get moving. We should try to avoid those ogres. Let’s follow the chasm wall to the mound, around those far pillars.”

Seiko nodded and followed.

The two nearly made it inside the lair when a boulder flew out of nowhere and crushed Tetsuro, killing him instantly. Seiko flinched so violently she nearly fell over, her head whipping around looking for the source. An ogre had thrown the boulder and was running over to attack her as well. Behind it and to the side another ogre raised a boulder and threw it. Seiko rolled forward to dodge the rock, some of the spider webs sticking to her back, and threw a Great Fireball at the ogre drawing near. Just like the others, the ogre quickly caught fire and burned to death, groaning loudly in pain. The other ogre was running over now, ignoring the fact that his fellow was killed so easily.

Seiko didn’t want to use too much Pyromancy and wear herself out, especially if there was another powerful enemy nearby. She looked back for a split second and had an idea. She turned, gripping the second boulder and bracing herself. With a heave, Seiko picked up the boulder and hoisted it over her head, stumbling under the weight. She turned, shifted her feet, breathed out, in, out, in, and threw the boulder with all her might and a yell of effort. The ogre continued running the entire time, drawing near until the boulder slammed into its chest, knocking it off its feet and squashing its head. The boulder rolled down the hill into the other wall of the chasm.

Seiko, still in the pose from throwing the rock and watching the aftermath, smiled to herself. She shook out her arms and went over to move the other boulder, in case Tetsuro had survived. She found he hadn’t, rolled the boulder so it would continue down the hill and out of the way, and waited for Tetsuro to return.

\--

**-Quelaag’s Domain-**

Down into the lair, Tetsuro first with his shield up, Seiko next with her hands alight, the two Undead moved in. They heard an odd chanting that grew louder as they moved deeper in, which turned out to be coming from other Undead lying on the ground. There were sacs full of eggs extending from their backs that were nearly as tall as Seiko.

“I repeat,” said Tetsuro, “Really not fond of the idea of going down here. What if the bell is in the other direction.”

“We’re already here, though.”

“I have Homeward Bones. We don’t have to be here.”

Seiko leaned forward so he would see her out of the corner of his eye, so Tetsuro looked back at her.

“Are you scared of spiders?”

“I’m scared of turning into one of these things instead of just dying. Death, we can recover from. But if whatever is up ahead lays eggs in us and we rest at a bonfire, that’s the end of the line. The bonfires remember your past self, right? What if they remember those eggs and think they’re part of you? You could be stuck like that for a very, very long time.”

Seiko scrunched up her face in disgust. “So… I dunno… Don’t get… Laid-on? With eggs? What do you call that?”

“Let’s just agree to not have to find out what you call that. Come on…”

Through the chamber with the chanting, living egg sacs, and the next tunnel was blocked with fog.

“Figures.”

“You were right about there being a powerful enemy down here. Maybe it guards the bell?”

Tetsuro looked back at her again, shield and sword down.

“Maybe it does,” said Tetsuro, “But I’m going to be livid if it doesn’t. I’m looking for memorable fights, not everlasting nightmares or permanent scarring.”

“Kinda hard to scar when we die and revive so often… You’d have to be hurt for a long time to-...”

She trailed off when she saw how Tetsuro was looking at her.

“I’ve got Humanity to spare for now. I’m willing to give this a shot if you are. If we fail, we can just try the other way. Are you ready?”

Seiko nodded, hands up.

“Then in we go.”

\--

“That’s a very big… Wait… What’s that on its head?” said Tetsuro.

“A wo-... She’s a Chaos Witch.”

“A what?!”

“Quelaana said The Witch of Izalith didn’t fear her own flame and tried to recreate The First Flame… It overloaded, went out of control, and corrupted everything in Izalith, even The Witch’s Daughters of Chaos. That must be one of them.”

The thing they referred to was slowly approaching them from across a huge arena with a brick floor and a curved ceiling made of spider webs. It was a massive spider, glowing with heat, with a mutated face that had too many eyes and a mouth with pointed teeth and a tongue. It also had too many legs to be a normal spider. If that wasn’t bad enough, sticking out of the top of its head was the torso of what was once a woman. Her overgrown hair hid most of her, but in her hand was a blade that appeared to be made of chitin. With a flourish, the blade trailed flames of red and orange.

“We have to beat her to leave. I guess this will be a good test for your Pyromancy, won’t it?”

Seiko looked over at him, slightly worried. She nodded.

“Here it comes.”

The spider suddenly sped up a bit and jumped. Its mouth opened to vomit lava as it landed. Both Tetsuro and Seiko had run to either side, Seiko to the right, Tetsuro to the left. The Witch, Quelaag, slashed at Tetsuro with her curved sword, since he was on her right now. She was very far away, really, but Tetsuro assumed that if she was swinging, she thought she could hit him. He put up his shield and was thrown off his feet by the force that hit his shield. Quelaag turned to focus on him, raising her sword. Tetsuro hit the ground, looked up, and scrambled aside before Quelaag could slash at him. Her blade spewed flames that extended her reach, cutting into the bricks and scorching them.

Seiko jumped onto the spider’s back, readying Firestorm. She figured if she could push her flame into an enemy that size and force the flame out, it would die instantly. Instead, she almost immediately burned her hand as it touched the spider’s exoskeleton. Quelaag herself drooped, as if asleep for a moment. Seiko was confused for a moment, but before she could think to do anything she was sent flipping through the air by a shockwave from the spider. She hit the ground near the side of the chamber, where there was still dirt instead of brick. The fringes of her robes were smoking, but they’d kept her from catching on fire.

“This thing is… How do we fight this?!” said Tetsuro. He circled the spider as it turned to face Seiko. Just when he thought it would attack again, he slashed at one of its many legs with the Uchigatana. The leg sheared off cleanly and fluid leaked from the severed leg. The bricks the fluid and leg landed on began to melt. Tetsuro immediately planned to cut off legs until he could reach the Witch herself. Simple, but effective.

Quelaag noticed her leg was removed, instantly forgot Seiko, and turned to face Tetsuro. As she turned, the spider puked more lava, keeping Seiko and Tetsuro separated. Seiko slowly got up, aching from her fall. She couldn’t move her burned hand, and didn’t dare look at it. She needed to get to Tetsuro for Estus, but was blocked by both Quelaag and her lava. Seiko looked at the bottoms of her boots. They were slightly melted, but still together. They might survive another few seconds standing on Quelaag.

While Seiko planned to make another jump, Tetsuro was busy dodging slashes and slicing off legs. Quelaag was having to use legs further to the rear to keep herself upright already, having trouble not leaning very far forward. Seiko jumped, took two steps on Quelaag’s back, and landed next to Tetsuro. Quelaag sagged again, preparing another shockwave in response to Seiko landing on her back.

“Back up!” yelled Seiko, backpedaling.

Tetsuro didn’t have enough time to react. He started backing up, shield up, when the shockwave went off. Tetsuro slid back over the bricks a bit, but was up and ok.

“I need Estus…” said Seiko.

Tetsuro sheathed his Uchigatana, snatched the flask off his belt, and tossed it to Seiko. He was used to her having good reflexes, as was she, but with a burned hand, Seiko failed to catch the flask. It hit the bricks and rolled, spilling everywhere. With no vessel, the Estus evaporated almost instantly. Quelaag had recovered and was jumping forward awkwardly, spitting more lava. Seiko ran for the flask, snatching it up and jumping to get away from the attack. She could almost hear Tetsuro cursing her name. 

Quelaag looked right, at Seiko, then left at Tetsuro. Tetsuro was moving in to slice off more of her legs, so she slashed at him. Tetsuro rolled, dodging the slash, and attacked as he stood. He came in contact with a thicker leg, and his sword failed to cut all the way through. He yanked the sword out, but the leg lashed out at him, knocking him down and searing his cuirass. Quelaag turned, raising her sword, when Seiko landed on the spider’s head right behind where her torso stuck out. Quelaag swiped a hand back at Seiko, but Seiko was already gone with another jump, landing near Tetsuro. She yanked him to his feet.

“Here! It fell!” She handed him the Estus flask.

Tetsuro sheathed the Uchigatana and took the flask, drinking from it himself before putting it back on his belt, empty.

“You’ve got to distract her from me. If I can slice off a few more legs, I don’t think she’ll be able to move. After that, she should be easy!”

Seiko nodded, hiding her burned hand. She’d caught a glimpse of bone on it while she was jumping, and that fleeting image was enough to tell her the hand was useless. She didn’t even know if there was any glove left on the hand, and the shock was starting to give way to pain. She made another jump, throwing a punch at Quelaag as soon as she landed. Quelaag swayed back, dodging, and pushed Seiko with her off-hand as she came back up. Seiko fell just as her boots melted away, landing on her back. She squinted against the pain, raising her left hand, palm up. Quelaag raised her sword and slashed. Seiko let out a blast of physical fire, Great Combustion, deflecting the slash. This happened several times before Quelaag slashed straight down and managed to cut through Seiko’s blast, slicing her in half and causing her to fade to dust.

Before Seiko completely faded, Tetsuro managed to use Iaito’s slash on the draw to shear off a major leg of Quelaag’s. Without it to support her, Quelaag listed to one side and crashed to the bricks. It was a left leg, so it put Quelaag in an odd position if she wanted to slash. She couldn’t move anymore beside a shuffling rotation to the left with her right legs. She did so, trying to get Tetsuro in range. He dashed forward, Iaito back in its sheath. Quelaag slashed wildly at him. He deflected one slash, dodged another, and the next flat-out missed. Quelaag stabbed at him and he rolled aside. Her spider puked lava and Tetsuro swayed under Quelaag’s sword arm. She pulled back to swing again… And Tetsuro sliced her clean off the top of the spider’s head on his next draw.

\--

**-Blighttown-**

Seiko woke by the bonfire. Her boots and glove were still ruined, but once she restored her human form with one of her Humanity, she was perfectly fine. She looked around and didn’t see Tetsuro with her. She looked in the sewer chamber and he wasn’t there either.

**-Quelaag’s Domain-**

Instead of egg-bearers in the first chamber, there were maggots as long as Seiko’s arms with sharp mandibles. Taken off guard, one bit her on the leg before she burned it with Fire Surge. She cleared out the maggots with disgust, inspected her wound, which was light, and moved forward. The fog wall was gone, and the chamber was empty.

“Tetsuro…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That'll be it for today. More tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

**-Quelaag’s Domain-**

Seiko went down the set of stairs she found near the second Bell of Awakening. She saw an egg-bearer blocking a hallway and another tunnel that looked like it had been broken into through the bricks. She approached the egg-bearer, seeing a bonfire behind him, but the rest of the chamber was blocked from view. Something exceptionally itchy made her pause and rub her head through her hood.

“Ahh,” came a kindly voice from the man on the floor, overtaken by the egg sac on his back, “You must be a new servant, come to see the Fair Lady. Am I right?”

“Maybe? Is the ‘Fair Lady’ Quelaana?”

“Quelaana…?” said the man, confused. “She vanished long ago. The only talk of her involves Salaman these days. Are you a Pyromancer, then?”

“I am. Quelaana taught me. She really hasn’t been seen for that long?”

“A Daughter of Chaos… Quelaana herself… What is your name?”

“I’d forgotten my name. Quelaana called me Seiko. I have a hard time controlling the heat of my Pyromancy, so my flames are always blue. She named me after the color.”

“I see. I am Eingyi, a humble servant of the Fair Lady. I was once a Pyromancer myself. If you will agree to help the Fair Lady, I will exchange knowledge with you.”

Eingyi backed out of the way, his heavily callused hands, knees, hips, and feet dragging on the stone under him. Seiko walked forward, looking around, and caught sight of what looked like a pure white Quelaag.

“Go ahead. Approach her and bow your head. If she recognizes you, you will be a Servant of Chaos.”

Seiko walked up to the Fair Lady, regarding her curiously. She looked back at Eingyi.

“What happened to her? She’s not burning hot like Quelaag. Can’t she move?”

“No,” said Eingyi, his voice soaked through with pity, “She took it upon herself to save many lives from the Blight. It has nearly killed her, but Humanity can ease her pain. The Servants of Chaos bring her Humanity, and in exchange they learn the ways of Chaos Pyromancy.”

Seiko looked back to the Fair Lady. She bowed her head, but kept her eyes on the pale woman as she did so. The woman’s eyes opened, and she looked at Seiko for a moment, silent, before closing her eyes again. Seiko felt a wash of heat and a rush of new power. She also felt that itch on her head again.

“And so you are her servant,” said Eingyi. “Come now, and let us speak of our arts.”

“Wait. Did anyone else come through here before me? It would have been very recent.”

“No,” said Eingyi, tilting his head and thinking. “No one else new today.”

“No one named Tetsuro came here?”

“I’ve never heard the name before, no.”

Seiko sighed. “Ok, then. Pyromancy it is.”

\--

**-Firelink Shrine-**

Tetsuro rang the bell after his victory and returned to the bonfire in the sewer. He searched high and low for Seiko, but never found her. Eventually, his search led him to the Great Hollow. He was curious enough to continue down, but did no more than rest at the bonfire before returning to the Bell of Awakening. He found the stairs, descending to meet Eingyi, who had never heard of Seiko. He was turned away by Eingyi for refusing to be a Servant of Chaos, so he returned to Firelink Shrine, confused by the disappearance of his traveling partner. He rested by the fire before being noticed by Laurentius.

“You there,” called out the Pyromancer.

“Yes?”

“Have you seen another Pyromancer on your travels? A woman by the name ‘Seiko?’”

“She was my traveling partner until just recently. I guess you haven’t seen her either?”

“No. I’ve been here, waiting for her. She said she would exchange Pyromancy with me.”

“Sorry to tell you, but she seems to have vanished. The only thing I can think of is that our worlds were thrown out of sync when I killed Quelaag without her.”

“That’s a shame… I’ll have to chance it in Blighttown on my own, then. Before I go, I could teach you a bit… Unless you find Pyromancy unsavory, that is.”

“Actually, it would be quite a help to be able to do what she does. I’d love to learn a bit.”

“I’m afraid what I teach won’t be the same. She learned from the mother of Pyromancy herself. I come from the Great Swamp. We’ve different ideas about Pyromancy. I can teach you Fireball, as well as the more potent Fire Orb, and Combustion for flames. Beyond that, I’m well versed in Flash Sweat and Iron Flesh, useful for my travels.”

“I’ve never heard of those last two.”

“If you traveled with a student of Quelaana, you wouldn’t, I’d imagine. See, Quelaana taught Salaman, Salaman taught Carmina, and Carmina traveled through the Great Swamp. Quelaana’s descendant students all had their own ideas, ya see.”

“Seiko did mention that Quelaana hadn’t wanted to teach her everything she knew of Pyromancy. Perhaps this is what she meant?”

“If it’s Quelaana, it wouldn’t shock me to know she’d thought of or heard of the Pyromancies of her students. But enough about all that, let’s get started.”

\--

Jinta reached Firelink Shrine at last, worn out, but there was no bonfire to rest at. He knew why, too. He’d seen the bloody remains of the Firekeeper, after all, and found the Black Eye Orb resting in the grass. Before he could say or do anything, the man in chainmail spoke up.

“Ugh, thank goodness you’re here. There’s a new problem here. It’s annoying, it’s ugly, and it reeks to Anor Londo and back. See if you can do something about it, will you?”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow… But I’ll have a look around.”

\--

**-Quelaag’s Domain-**

Seiko offered ten Humanity to the Fair Lady before departing, leaving her with only two. She returned to Firelink shrine to find the bonfire out and Laurentius nowhere to be seen.

“Did a Pyromancer come through here?” she asked the crestfallen knight in chainmail.

“Not that I’ve heard of, no. Odd to see you here again, though. Weren’t you with the other-... Nevermind. You’d better hurry unless you want the worlds distorting until you’re all alone.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The master of this world has headed to Anor Londo, through Sen’s Fortress. Perhaps you can still catch him. It’s up the elevator, near the Undead Church.”

Seiko assumed he meant Tetsuro, so she thanked him and hurried on her way.

\--

**-Undead Parish-**

Seiko rested at the bonfire above Andre. She asked him to repair her ruined glove and boots before continuing.

“If you don’ mind,” said Andre as he was finishing the glove, “What happened to the other fellow y’were travelin’ with?”

“I don’t know. We were in a fight and I died, and when I came back he was gone. Things seem different as well.”

“Ahh, that’ll be the worlds shiftin’. Ya’ve been removed from his flow o’ time. Things like that happ’n now an’ again. If ya manage to correct the differences, yer world should meld with his again.”

“So, like how Solaire had to be summoned into Tetsuro’s world to help?”

“Right. Have ya got a soapstone?”

“No. Tetsuro had one, though.”

“Hmm… You’ll need to find help elsewhere, then. Ya can’t summon unless yer the master of the world. I can’t tell if ya are by lookin’, but to be safe ya’d better keep an eye out fer signs. Findin’ another partner’d be in yer best int’rest as well.”

He looked over the glove, compared the size to her existing one, and handed them back to her.

“That’ll do it, then. Watch yer step in the fortress; there’s traps everywhere. How I hear it told, ya’ve already nearly Hollowed once. Don’t want that happ’nin’ again, do we?”

“No,” said Seiko, putting her gloves back on under the sleeves of her black robes. “Thanks again.”

- **Sen’s Fortress-**

Seiko crossed the bridge, stepping boldly forward, hands up. She felt her foot shift on one of her steps and looked down, confused. Her confusion switched to mortal pain as she was struck in the chest with a stake longer than her hand. The impact knocked her down and two more stakes flew over her as she writhed in pain. The stake was embedded between her ribs, just below her collarbone, nearly piercing a lung. She looked down, tempted to rip it out, but remembered both that she had no Estus Flask without Tetsuro and that the nearest bonfire was just over the bridge. She stood, gasping in pain, and returned to the bonfire.

On her second attempt, Seiko saw the switch on the floor. It was camouflaged with the other stone tiles, a slightly raised two by two unit of tile. She stepped around it, continuing into the chamber. The room grew darker the further she got from the entrance, but she could see large figures move to block her way. Seiko threw a Fireball at one of them and saw it collide with a stone shield. The blue flames illuminated her enemies, revealing two tall men with heads like the body of a large snake and scales covering them to match. Their necks were so long that they had to curve back down, forcing the head to look up to look straight. They had simple rags on and carried stone shields and large stone swords. Despite their odd appearance, they certainly could handle their weapons, advancing down the stairs quickly. 

Seiko blasted Fire Surge briefly toward the legs of one of them, forcing it to stop and lower its shield to absorb the flames. The second one came forward and jumped, swinging its sword overhead to chop down. Seiko jumped back, far out of reach, landing behind the trap trigger on the floor. The snake-man pushed the advantage he saw and stepped on the trigger. The three bolts fired from a slot in the stairs up ahead, embedding in the back of the snake-man. When it thumped to the tiles, Seiko looked down at it, then back to the remaining snake-man, completely confused but in no way inclined to complain.

The remaining snake-man approached with its shield up, head suddenly snapping out. Seiko presented her arms in a block and the snake-man bit right through her gloves. The snake-man pulled away, having left only shallow wounds, and Seiko threw a Fireball at its head. It flailed and writhed in pain before falling over dead.

The rest of the room was filled with empty pots, so Seiko moved up the stairs and further into the fortress. She quickly came to a large chamber with several bridges and openings both above and below her that could just as easily be windows as doors. Axes swung, each to their own tempo, across the path of the narrow bridges. Far below, what looked like tar covered the floor, and two large stone monsters patrolled. As if all that weren’t enough, there were more snake-men posted at key points to guard against invaders.

Seiko, eyes faintly glowing under her hood, couldn’t help but wonder if she was making the right choice by pressing on. Surely, by now, she was strong enough to find the mage in New Londo, she thought to herself. But something about her current path seemed like the right thing to do, and she didn’t want to be left behind. It was a split between the curiosity to see what lie ahead, the curiosity to learn what had happened before, and the feeling that she should be traveling with Tetsuro. Moving forward won out, and Seiko stepped forward carefully, avoiding the swinging axes and crossing the bridge.

A snake-man at the other end grew impatient and tried to meet her halfway, but was struck by one of the axes and fell to its death. Seiko dodged the axe that had sent it to its fate and found a set of stairs. She went up, turned a corner, and found herself on a bridge above the first. There were axes placed closer together, and another snake-man, this one with the head of a cobra and four arms. With its one free hand, the other three holding swords, the cobra-man threw a ball of lightning at Seiko. She dove aside, but the ball never made it to her, colliding with one of the axes instead. Seiko approached the corner with caution, peeking around it. The cobra-man saw her, but didn’t make any moves, waiting for her to try and move forward.

Considering her options, Seiko decided to use one of the Pyromancies Eingyi taught her. She lacked the practice to use his Toxic Mist technique, but she could use Poison Mist well enough. She clenched her fists, internalizing her power and breathing in. The clean air mixed with the strange magic in her lungs and she stepped out in front of the bridge again. She exhaled completely, Pyromancy changing a simple breath into a wafting cloud of poison. The cloud, a purple gas that was lethal if inhaled, wafted both forward across the bridge and back into the hallway where Seiko was standing. She knew from Eingyi’s training that the poison wouldn’t harm her thanks to the magic involved, so she calmly hid behind the corner again. When the air finally circulated enough that she would be able to see across the bridge, she peeked around the corner. She hadn’t heard it over the sound of the axes swinging on their mechanisms, but the cobra-man had thumped to the tiles soon after she’d used her Pyromancy. A first practical success with the technique, in Seiko’s mind.

\--

Further into the fortress, Seiko came across an opening that she could see trees out of. Considering the fortress was surrounded by a forest, that wasn’t terribly noteworthy. What was noteworthy was the path that opening led to. It had a smooth, rounded groove in the center, almost like something that would help direct the flow of water. Seiko approached the opening, trying to catch a whiff of oil or smoke, suspecting a burning oil trap. She was looking around for some kind of trigger when something rumbled past. Seiko poked her head out of the opening, looking left and right, but she didn’t see any enemies. She looked left again, the direction where she’d seen a ramp leading up to a door, assuming that was the way to go.

As she watched, a smooth, round boulder rolled around the corner above the door she saw, dropping onto the ramp into the groove she thought would direct water, and rolled toward her. She quickly stepped back into the previous room and the boulder rolled past her harmlessly. She looked out again. Judging by the distance, she thought she could make it to the door in time before the next boulder. She bolted for the door, her strength propelling her at an incredible speed… 

Until she had to come to a fast stop and side-step a spell. Another cobra-man had appeared in the door and hurled a lightning ball at her. The attack missed, but she’d slowed down too much and now there was an enemy in the way. Seiko threw a quick Fireball at the cobra-man, who dodged, and heard the next boulder coming. Seiko dropped to the ground and rolled to the right, thinking if she was small enough and near enough to the edge, the round boulder would simply pass her by, but she was in too much of a hurry and went over the edge.

Seiko cursed her fate as she fell, initially thinking she was falling to her death, all the way to the forest floor, until her fall was broken earlier than she expected. She landed on her back, the wind knocked out of her, atop a long-dead warrior with a curved sword in his hand. Aching, she stood and looked around. There was a path hugging the wall below where she’d come from that connected to where the boulders were rolling. Seiko jumped down and landed right behind a figure sitting with its legs over the edge of the path. There was a very large sword and a shield with a single, hand-length spike in the center resting next to the figure.

“Hmm?” came a muffled voice from the figure. It turned to see what the noise had been, which had of course been Seiko landing.

“Oh-hoh! Hello, there. Were you repelled by those foul rocks as well?”

The voice was definitely a man, but it was fairly muffled by the helmet he wore, which looked like a slightly squashed onion.

“It was that snake-man,” said Seiko.

“Oh, dear,” said the man, “Yet another obstacle to add to the conundrum. There goes the plan I was forming…”

He sighed, standing up.

“I am Siegmeyer of Catarina,” he declared proudly.

“I’m Seiko, a Pyromancer.”

“A Pyromancer, you say? I haven’t run into a Pyromancer in quite a while now. Would you be willing to lend me a hand? I’m much too slow to be outrunning these boulder traps myself.”

“I’m not sure what I can do, but I’m willing to try.”

“Excellent!” said Siegmeyer. “By the way, I’m curious; how do you get by when Pyromancy doesn’t work? You’ve no weapons.”

“I’m a lot stronger than I look,” answered Seiko.

“I’m sorry if I seem rude, but I find it hard to believe anyone could travel effectively in these parts with fire and fists alone.”

Seiko thought for a second how she could demonstrate what she meant. She wanted a new partner, after all, and Siegmeyer seemed experienced, even if he had his head in the clouds.

“What are- Oh, my! What have you done?! Put me down!”

Seiko had grabbed Siegmeyer by his sides and lifted him over her head. He squirmed, taken completely off-guard.

“I see what you mean, now, please, let me down!”

Seiko put Siegmeyer down, worried he’d be angry until he chuckled.

“You gave me quite the start, you know! That was the last thing I expected when I first saw you. You look positively frail, to be honest.”

Seiko grabbed her right arm through her sleeve with her left hand. It showed how much substance the robes appeared to add to her. Siegmeyer was right, she thought, but she’d been gaining more mass as her body adapted to fighting again. She’d also noticed her overall health improve when she had used soul infusion.

“I was nearly Hollow not too long ago. I have a lot of memory loss, and I was sitting still in a cell for a long time.”

“A cell?” Siegmeyer’s tone had changed, as if he were prepared to be hostile if she were a criminal.

“In the Undead Asylum.”

“Ahh. Of course. Well, that certainly explains a lot. I’m sorry I doubted you! Now, then, shall we get going? There’s lots more to see in Lordran!”

“You seem very adventurous.”

“My dear,  _ adventure is my life! _ ”


	11. Chapter 11

**-Sen’s Fortress-**

Siegmeyer waited on the path below for Seiko to move on ahead and stop the boulders. She walked carefully down the narrow path and back to where she’d started. She waited for the next boulder and ran out, expecting the cobra-man this time. She formed a Fireball as she ran, hurling it at the cobra-man as soon as he appeared. She ran right into it as it burned, her flame-resistant robe keeping her from catching on fire. The next boulder slammed down right behind her, signalling both her success and the nearness of failure. The room was dark and full of broken statues of some kind of knight. There was a chest in the corner, inside of which rested a small ring box. Seiko retrieved it and opened the box. Inside was a well-crafted metal ring and a small note.

“You who find the Ring of Steel Protection, know it was once owned by Knight King Rendal who felled a drake with blade alone. It’s magic may yet linger, protecting the wearer from physical harm.”

Seiko had never heard of either of the people mentioned, but she knew quite well that she wasn’t in Balder. Whoever had once had the ring must have brought it here and lost it. Or something. Seiko took off her left glove and put the ring on. It tightened snuggly onto her finger to her surprise, and she put her glove back on. While a useful reward, she hoped, this wasn’t the way forward. She went back to the entrance to the room, waited for the next boulder, and looked around. There was a path she had missed that led back into the fortress, but she wasn’t too sure that would lead where she needed it to.

Seiko chased the next boulder a bit, standing halfway between the original way she’d come from and the alternate path she’d seen. She waited for the next boulder, ran toward it, and jumped. Her timing was off and her foot caught the top of the boulder. Seiko twisted in the air from the small collision, throwing her hands down to try and stop her fall. She only managed to keep from breaking her nose, really, but still busted her lip and caused her nose to bleed. She stumbled back to her feet and went back to try again. While she waited, she absentmindedly wiped some of the blood off her face with her robe sleeve, feeling dazed.

The next boulder rolled toward her and she jumped again, this time slightly toward the wall to push off of it. She landed barely on the path, right in front of the door into where she found the ring. She jumped straight up, caught the ledge where the boulders were rolling off from, and quickly climbed up. The corner she’d seen led immediately into another chamber with a pedestal and a number of gears and moving parts above. As she watched, a boulder slammed down onto the pedestal. She realized what was about to happen just in time, diving diagonally into the room and out of the path of the boulder as something smacked into it to send it on its way.

Seiko recovered and inspected the room. There were four possible paths for the boulder to take. The first, she realized, she’d seen earlier, where the wall had been blown open. The second was where she’d just come in from, but the third and fourth were unknowns. There was also a fifth way to go that was sized for human use. The third path led nowhere, probably a way to harmlessly redirect the boulders. The fourth path was where Seiko found a wooden handle pointing, opposite where she’d come in. Seiko pushed the handle to face away from the third path, directing the boulders to fall down to the forest. 

Before she could leave out the way she came, she heard the handle shift back into place. Another boulder was pushed out where she’d been walking toward. Frustrated, Seiko grabbed the handle and pulled it back where she wanted it and approached the mechanism for turning where the boulders went. She called on another new Pyromancy, a Chaos Fireball, and melted the mechanism so it fused together, keeping it from ever turning again. She waited, heard the parts for turning the machine grind and suddenly pop before calming down. Satisfied she’d broken the trap, Seiko returned for Siegmeyer.

\--

Siegmeyer was waiting for her when she dropped down from above the door.

“That was quite the display! I’m impressed. I think we will compliment each other very nicely. You don’t look like you take hits very well…”

He obviously meant the blood drying on her face after falling over the boulder. Or perhaps that she wore light armor?

“Shall we continue?” he asked.

“Sure.”

Siegmeyer turned to go through the nearby archway, into a small room with only one way forward. Before they could cross the room completely, they heard the smashing of wood and the footsteps of heavy, bare feet. A snake-man was ducking through the doorway, but stepped on another trap trigger. Three bolts fired from the wall in front of it, behind and to the right of Siegmeyer and Seiko, killing it.

“Poor fellow. That trap was obvious, I think.”

Siegmeyer put his shield on his back, grabbing the snake-man by an ankle and yanking it out of the way. He drew his shield again and continued through the door, minding his greatsword on the low doorway. Seiko followed, hands up and ready to cast. Siegmeyer looked left and right out the next door. There was another groove on the floor, like boulders should be rolling down toward them.

“There appears to be a way up from here, to where those rocks were coming from. I can hear them landing, but they aren’t coming this way.”

“I broke the machine. They’re going out into the forest.”

“I see. In that case, did you see a way forward up there? Our end goal should be near the top of the fortress, after all.”

“I did.”

“Well, if you’re in a hurry, I won’t bother… But I’d prefer to see the rest of the fortress before we leave. That would mean following the path down, rather than up, first.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Splendid! Off we go, then!”

They started down the stairs rather than up, having to stick near the wall to avoid sliding down the groove for the boulders. Down one flight, around a turn, down the other, and they came to a dead end in the dark.

“There’s a ladder here, but it’s too dark to see the bottom.”

Seiko stepped up, formed a basic Fireball, and threw it into the pit. It lit the empty hole as it fell, exploding at the bottom.

“Nothing? How strange… Ahh, well, this way, then.”

Siegmeyer turned away from the pit, leaving Seiko to wonder silently what horrible things it might be used for. Did he not care? Or was he avoiding the same dark thoughts?

“Oh, dear… Another predicament.”

He could only mean the bloody elevator that moved on an unsteady set of chains with only some questionable wood to stand on. He approached a chest that was also in the room, just as crusted with blood as the elevator. Siegmeyer leaned to one side, then the other, inspecting the chest.

“It must be a trap…” he muttered, “But in what way…?”

He kicked it open… And it grew arms, snatched him up, and started trying to gnaw through his armor with teeth that looked like human finger bones.

“You foul-!”

Siegmeyer twisted hard, slashing with his Zweihander, severing one of the monster’s arms. Siegmeyer landed flat on his chest, in a manner of speaking, his rounded armor keeping him from harm almost entirely. He stood in time to see the thing that grabbed him step over him and snatch up Seiko, ignoring the Fire Whip she’d cast at it.

“Unhand her, Mimic!”

Siegmeyer took a heavy step, swinging his Zweihander with all the muscles from his arm, down his back, all the way to his legs. His sword lopped off both the Mimic’s legs, forcing it to collapse and drop Seiko. The Mimic began wailing in pain with increasingly strange noises. It hit the ground and bit off its own tongue as its chest-shaped head snapped shut under the weight of its own lid. In one smooth motion, Siegmeyer put his shield on his back, took another step, and slammed his Zweihander down with both hands. The overhead swing split the Mimic in half. It quickly dissolved into a mist, which then reformed on the spot into a wooden spear with a titanite-infused tip. Seiko hadn’t even stood up yet, in awe.

“Are you alright?” asked Siegmeyer, approaching to help her up.

Seiko popped to her feet without help. “Fine!”

Siegmeyer seemed to be taken aback slightly, surprised by her sudden movement.

“Good! Mimics are terrible creatures. I wish I could find more Lloyd’s Talismans to help with them.”

“Talismans?”

“Don’t you know of Allfather Lloyd? He hunted Undead like you and I. The Talismans make Estus useless; they’re famous. By accident, one day, I discovered that they also passify those Mimics. I don’t know if that was an intended effect, but it certainly can be useful. As for the spear, it’s all yours if you want it. I believe I’ll stick with what I’ve got. Now…  About this elevator…”

Siegmeyer walked over to it, straining to look up high enough in his strange helmet.

Seiko walked over, leaving the spear, and looked up.

“There are spikes on the ceiling, but it looks like there’s a door before the elevator reaches them.”

“If there isn’t a large enough window, I’m not sure I’d make it out, in that case. If you’re willing to give it a try and let me know, I’ll follow if it’s safe. We can always turn back and go up the stairs.”

“I’ll go.”

Seiko waited for the elevator to lower, stepped onto it, and looked up, waiting. The elevator began to rise again after a short pause. Seiko dove out the elevator as soon as it reached the next floor, recovering and looking back. The elevator was all the way up, flat against the spikes. It descended after another pause, so Seiko approached the opening.

“Wait there!” she yelled down to Siegmeyer.

The elevator came up again, pausing at the second floor where Seiko stood for a second before continuing up into the spikes. Seeing that, she felt a bit silly for having leapt out of the way like she had. She waited for the elevator to go back down again.

“It’s safer than it looks. Come on.”

When the elevator reached the floor the next time, Siegmeyer was on it. He stepped out of the elevator quickly while it was paused, level with the floor. Seiko noticed he still hadn’t accidently hit any of the low ceilings or cramped doorways with his huge sword, despite how his helmet limited his vision. They moved forward, out the only doorway in the room.

“Ahh, just another path to where we were going,” said Siegmeyer.

They had come to another staircase with a rounded groove in the center, one of the paths for the boulders. They ascended and Seiko pointed out the way forward she had found. Siegmeyer stepped boldly forward, only to have Seiko grab him by his baldric and yank him back. He narrowly avoided falling over.

“You almost stepped on a trigger,” said Seiko. She pointed to the raised tiles.

“Oh. Yes, I see now.”

Seiko bent down, hands and knees, and shoved down on the trigger. Bolts fired from several places on the wall, about level with where her shoulder would be, the first volley embedding in the wall, then being damaged by the next two volleys. The bolts from the second and third volleys clattered to the floor loudly. Seiko motioned for Siegmeyer to lead the way. He walked ahead.

“I must say,” he said without looking back, “Without you around, this place would be far more troublesome. It  _ is _ interesting, but my curiosity would surely have killed me at least once already, boulders aside. You have my thanks. On my honor, I will repay you for your help.”

“But you’re helping me too. Your armor is amazing, even if it does look funny.”

Siegmeyer whirled around, the tip of his greatsword scraping the wall.

“Funny, is it?” He was obviously irritated.

“Sorry! I meant… It’s unconventional…!” Seiko struggled to find something to say to cover her statement. Siegmeyer practically filled the hallway, taller and wider than Seiko. It was her desire to befriend him combined with his ire that made him intimidating to her.

“That it is,” he agreed, his tone still low, “But I’ll have you know Catarina has many proud knights. This armor is a symbol! I’ll have no one disrespect it.”

He paused and Seiko didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry for my sudden shift,” continued Siegmeyer, “I’m just used to ridicule. I know you meant no harm.”

He’d lightened up a bit, allowing Seiko to breathe a bit easier.

Siegmeyer turned around again, minding his sword, and moved forward once more.

\--

Tetsuro paused as the man he’d been talking to laughed at him.

“‘Claim my trinkets’? ‘Gaze at my final grimace’? You’re nearly Hollow yourself, you hopeless fool. If you think you’re such a great warrior, draw your weapon.”

The man stopped laughing, sighing instead.

“Weren’t you listening?” he asked Tetsuro, “I’ve been doing this for ages. I made it this far, just like you, but this is the end of the line. There’s nothing here for any ‘Chosen Undead.’ No one gets through Sen’s Fortress.”

Tetsuro shook his head, drawing a broadsword off his back, Iaito still sheathed on his belt.

“Don’t compare yourself to me. You disgust me. Look at you! Your armor is far better than mine, you’ve had time to explore the fortress and learn its secrets, stripped the place of the best gear from warriors far and wide, and holed up in a storage room full of useful supplies… And yet here you are. Stagnant. Useless to the world. Draw your sword or don’t, I don’t care. Someone like you needs to be put out of their misery.”

The crestfallen merchant’s head lowered, hiding his eyes.

“Are you threatening me, ‘Weaponmaster’?”

“It’s only a threat if you intend to fight back. Otherwise, consider it a gift, from a determined warrior to a despairing waste of flesh.”

“I’ll show you-” The merchant snatched an ultra-greatsword up that was leaning on the wall next to him, swinging it with all his might. “-a waste of flesh!”


	12. Chapter 12

**-Sen’s Fortress-**

Wood splintered as the knight slammed his ultra-greatsword down, aiming for Tetsuro. Tetsuro had dodged, leaving the massive blade to split the table in the room. Tetsuro slashed to counter, hitting the same spot a third time and finally breaking through the steel armor of his foe. The knight barely registered the shallow cut he received as a result, shifting his weight to swing his sword horizontally at Tetsuro. Tetsuro spun and put up his shield. The blow struck and Tetsuro redirected the force up, letting the blade slide over his shield. Sparks flew and the knight was thrown off balance, spinning from his own weapon’s momentum. Tetsuro dropped his broadsword as he reached for Iaito, stepping in, killing intent painting his features. The knight failed to recover in time as Iaito cleared its sheath at blinding speed, slashing into the rent in his armor created by the stout broadsword. 

His armor kept the blade from cutting clean through, so Tetsuro had to put a boot to the knight’s back and yank it out, Iaito’s blade slicing cleanly as it cleared the wound. Tetsuro slashed the blade to the side, at nothing, to clear the blood. The knight, meanwhile, fell to one knee, his sword crashing to the floor. Blood was pumping into his split lung and he couldn’t breathe, getting dizzy.

“Don’t even know how to use your own weapon. I expected better from you. You said yourself that you’d come this far. You compared yourself to me, but all you were really doing was dragging me down.”

Tetsuro recovered his broadsword, regarding the knight who wouldn’t even turn to look at him.

“You can at least die knowing what you’ve gathered here will make me all the better. I’ll be sure to carry something of yours with me to Anor Londo, at the least, so some part of you moves on. It’s the least I can do, after all, to ask your forgiveness.”

The knight couldn’t respond. His face was turned away from Tetsuro, who stood behind him. He died there, and Tetsuro never knew what he’d been thinking as he did.

\--

“Did you hear that?” said Siegmeyer, alert.

He and Seiko looked around. They were outside, on the roof of the fortress. The landing they were on appeared to have been scorched by something previously, but there was no telling what had done it. A split second after Siegmeyer spoke, something slammed into the lip of a nearby wall, to their left. Time slowed to a crawl to the beat of shattering porcelain as oil flowered from the impact, arcing toward them and lighting aflame. Siegmeyer dove forward, trying to get out of the way of the burning oil. He was walking ahead, and just barely cleared it, feeling the heat through his boots. Seiko cringed bodily, presenting her left side and pulling her hood further across her face. She was hit with a large shard of porcelain and spattered with the oil, thrown from the impact. She hit the ground, protected from the fire by her gold-hemmed robes, and rolled over the edge.

Siegmeyer recovered, gaining his feet as quickly as he could, and looked for Seiko as well as cover. He heard Seiko coughing and shuffling somewhere nearby, so he ran to the edge where she’d fallen. Seiko was flailing, trying to put herself out, not knowing she was standing next to an unlit bonfire. He looked back and spotted the giant who was throwing the firebombs as it picked up another to hurl, so he jumped down next to Seiko. He dropped his sword and shield near the rampart and started patting down Seiko to try and help with the fire.

“Roll on the ground to put it out! We’re next to a bonfire, as well.”

Seiko flopped to the ground and rolled, still in a mild panic. She popped up when she felt the bonfire flare to life and ran over to it. As she entered the bonfire’s aura, the remainder of the flames washed away from her, as if she’d run through a barrier they couldn’t follow past. Her leather armor was ruined again, but the bangs of her hair that had been burned returned to health. The bite marks on her arms healed, long since scabbed over, and the blood cleared from her face from when she’d fallen.

“Well,” said Siegmeyer, “At least now we won’t have to start again from the Parish. It seems odd to say, but it’s lucky you fell down here when you did or we never would have found this.”

“Do you have a repair box?” asked Seiko.

“I do. And a Bottomless Box as well. I should have some old plate armor gauntlets and boots if you’d like them.”

“I appreciate it… But for now, I’d rather not.”

Siegmeyer pulled out his Bottomless Box, producing his repair box from within it.

“Are you sure? If you had tougher gauntlets you might be quite a threat with that strength of yours. As it is, if you hit someone like myself in armor, you’re likely to break your hand.”

“I can use Pyromancy to fight armor, sort of. I kind of just want to find something of my own instead of taking from anyone else.”

Siegmeyer was repairing his own armor while they spoke.

“If you insist. But if things get too rough, I hope you’ll take up my offer. You can always return what I give you later.”

Seiko held out her charred gloves.

“Thanks, but…”

“Just these for now?”

Seiko nodded.

Siegmeyer took the gloves to repair them.

\--

**-Anor Londo-**

Jinta drank some of his Estus as he entered the building, stressed from his encounter with the Silver Knights on the narrow path he’d taken. Estoc in his left hand, he pushed a door open with his right, ready for more resistance. Instead, only some empty chests, a table with ornate trinkets adorning it, the bonfire, and Knight Solaire.

“Well, now,” said Solaire, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Jinta sagged with exhaustion and relief, sheathing Estoc and approaching the bonfire.

“You have no idea… I can’t believe we’re still connected.”

He sat by the bonfire, nearly across from Solaire.

“You’ve fought hard. I’m sure your faith has a lot to do with your success.”

“Miracles? Of course. Being able to heal myself has been invaluable. I’m still nowhere near your level with lightning, though. Maybe if I was I’d be more help.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. The way I see it, very few Undead make it this far. You should be more positive.”

“I find it hard to be positive when I die at nearly every turn.”

“And yet here you are, sharing the warmth of a fire with me, who you think so highly of.”

Jinta tilted his head. “I hadn’t thought of that, really.”

Solaire chuckled. “Of course not. Otherwise you wouldn’t be so hard on yourself. How’s your Humanity?”

“Steady at five sprites. It seems I can always find another one or two before succumbing again.”

“Well, now that you’re here, why don’t we join forces, at least through Anor Londo? We’re both drawing near to our goal, the Lordvessel, but I have a feeling we’ll need to separate before we reach it.”

“Why’s that?”

Solaire held out a white crystal slightly thicker than a sword-hilt with a black core.

“You know as well as I how the worlds shift. With this, I plan to split ours before we reach the vessel. If both of us have a vessel, and either of us manages to link the Fire, it should affect everyone. We’ll need every possible chance, after all.”

“If you think it’ll work, I’m with you,” said Jinta. “Just give me a bit to rest and think.”

“Of course,” said Solaire, replacing his Separation Crystal in its pouch on his belt. “When you are ready, we should move forward with caution. But why rest?”

“I’m tired from getting here, of course.”

“Do you not feel the bonfire’s power?”

“I wasn’t injured when I got here, thanks to my flask.”

Jinta took out the Estus Flask. It hadn’t refilled.

\--

**-Sen’s Fortress-**

Seiko waved a hand in front of the white phantom’s face but it was unresponsive. They’d found it standing idle in a storeroom separated from the way forward by a bridge.

“It’s no use, I’m afraid,” said Siegmeyer. “It seems the one who wrote this sign is dead. It’s nothing more than a shadow with his equipment and skill. What I don’t understand is why it’s still here. The world master must be near, or perhaps the phantom didn’t help the world master previously.”

“Why would someone summon a phantom and then not use it?”

“They may not have understood that a phantom of someone Hollowed or dead needs direct orders or it won’t do a thing.”

“Will it only listen to the master?”

“Only one way to find out, I suppose.” Siegmeyer addressed the phantom. “You there, tell us your name.”

“I am called Black Iron Tarkus.” The phantom was monotone and terse.

“Perhaps not,” said Siegmeyer to Seiko. “Tarkus, follow me and help me fight. Attack what I attack or whatever attacks me.”

Tarkus took a lower stance, hefting his greatshield and ultra-greatsword.

“I’m going to go up those stairs back there,” said Seiko. “I think we need to kill that giant before we try to fight the golem.”

“It may still have bombs to throw, indeed. But you imply you’re going alone.”

“I have a plan. And you should save your strength for the golem. I’m worried my Pyromancy won’t help much.”

“Hmm…” hummed Siegmeyer, considering it. “Yes. Why else would firebombs be paired with it, after all. You make a good point.”

The three crossed the bridge and Seiko went up the short spiral staircase. The giant at the top was scanning the fortress roof, looking for a target. There was still a large pile of firebombs by his side, each at least twice Seiko’s size. She approached quietly, her leather boots helping keep her footsteps muffled. She kept her eyes on the giant, trying to get as close as she could before using Pyromancy… But she stepped on a curved piece of porcelain, which shattered under her weight loudly.

In an instant, the giant had spun and swung a fist at her, backhanded. Seiko rolled forward, going right between its legs and out behind it. It kicked a foot back blindly and spun, forcing Seiko to step aside again. The giant didn’t speak, but it grunted angrily with every move it made against her. 

Seiko took a step forward and slammed a fist into the giant’s calf. It groaned in pain, its leg weakening, but it retaliated with another swipe of its fist. Seiko was taken off guard by the counter, flying through the air from the blow and slamming into the wall of the stairwell and falling to the ground. Thundering footsteps told her the giant was pursuing the fight to the death, so she struggled to her feet and threw a Fireball at the giant’s chest. Aside from another groan and having the giant thump its chest with an open hand, it didn’t seem to do much.

Seiko was reluctant to use more advanced Pyromancy, not wanting to exhaust herself before the last fight of the fortress, but if she wanted to win - or even live that long - there didn’t appear to be much choice. She ran forward and dove, sailing between the giant’s legs again and forcing it to turn around. When she came into view, Seiko was already holding a swirling fireball over her head. She slammed it on the floor, casting Firestorm and causing pillars of blue flame to erupt all across the platform. 

The remaining firebombs shattered and burning oil began to spread. The giant fell over, flailing, into the pool of oil. While it struggled, dying, Seiko ran toward it, leaping over it in another dive to try and get back into the stairwell. She made it in, but couldn’t stop her momentum fast enough to avoid falling down the stairs. She curled up, hands on top of her head, as she tumbled. When the world stopped spinning, along with the inside of her head, Seiko uncurled and looked around. Siegmeyer was standing over her, hand out to help her up. Seiko took it, dizzy, and stood.

“We should hurry. The oil might come down the stairs.”

“Agreed. The Iron Golem should be all that stands between us and Anor Londo.”

Seiko looked out at the Golem, motionless as it was and covered in battle-scars.

“How does beating it help us reach Anor Londo. Is there a trap door behind it?”

“I honestly don’t know, but now isn’t the time for hesitation! The oil!”

Seiko looked back and, sure enough, oil was flowing down the spiral stairs, still lit. They ran out the archway and across another bridge to the platform before the Iron Golem. The platform was covered in scorches, implying they were right to have been worried about being hit by firebombs.

“Tarkus! Help us kill the Iron Golem!”

Heavy armor and all, Black Iron Tarkus sprinted ahead, slashing overhead with his huge greatsword. The blow dragged across the Iron Golem’s thigh, since it stood three times taller than Siegmeyer, and the Golem started moving. It slashed over Tarkus’ head, which seemed pointless until both Siegmeyer and Seiko were blown off their feet by an explosion of air.

“It uses magic?!” said Siegmeyer, surprised.

Seiko had to force herself up, already tired from using Firestorm. She didn’t have it in her to use it at full power again. Although, from the looks of things, she might not need to. Tarkus fought with inhuman strength, withstanding blows from the Iron Golem and countering as if it were a fight man-to-man.

“At this rate,” said Siegmeyer, “That phantom will finish the fight on his own. Was there really someone like that alive here at some point?”

“He looks like he has as much raw strength as I do…” said Seiko, awed. “Maybe more.”

The Iron Golem raised its axe to slam down on Tarkus again. When the axe came down, it hit stone, blasting rock dust and chips of the bricks everywhere. Tarkus was gone.

\--

**-Anor Londo-**

Jinta handed the Separation Crystal back to Solaire.

“I feel it now. Thank you,” he said, restored by the bonfire.

“It will be quite a problem for you if you’ve lost your crystal. Every Undead that passes through the Asylum should have received one.”

“I think I remember having one, yes, but I have no idea what happened to it.”

“In any case, shall we get going?”

“Yes. I’m ready now.”

\--

**-Sen’s Fortress-**

“I was worried this might happen,” said Siegmeyer, stepping forward, sword and shield ready.

“Where’d he go?” asked Seiko, standing just behind him and to the left.

“The world master must have realized there was still a phantom bound to him and dispelled him. The Golem is our problem to deal with now. We don’t have to destroy it, but we must prove we are worthy to pass.”

“That explains why it’s just beat up and still here.”

“I’ll leave the long range fight to you. See if you can distract it with your flames.”

“What if we knocked it off the platform?”

The Golem started approaching quickly, having realized its previous target wasn’t going to reappear.

“That sounds difficult and risky, but if you get the chance it just might work! Here we go!”

The Golem took one last step, slashing its axe across the platform. Seiko and Siegmeyer both dropped to the ground, recovered, and split up. Siegmeyer shifted his weight and slashed at the Golem’s leg, spinning into a shield-bash to try and pierce the Golem’s surface. The large spike on his shield couldn’t pass through, so Siegmeyer backed away and prepared to block or dodge. A blue Fireball flew over his head at the Golem’s helmet, connecting and spraying fire in its face. 

The Golem didn’t slow, swinging its axe twice quickly. Siegmeyer was able to duck the first slash, but the second connected with his shield and forced him to roll with the blow. Seiko tried Fire Whip over Siegmeyer’s head, but that too had no effect. As Siegmeyer clashed with the Golem again, he tried to rethink their strategy. Seiko’s Pyromancy wasn’t going to be of any h-

“Get away from it! I have an idea!” she yelled.

Siegmeyer waited for the Golem to attack again, then backpedaled away from it, ending up beside Seiko as she hurled a fireball that was a darker blue, like looking into deep ocean water. It was the largest fireball he’d seen her throw as well. The fireball struck, exploded, and the Golem immediately recoiled, taking a step back, raising its hands as if repulsed to block its face. The flames lingered and the Golem’s surface began to glow a dull red.

“What was that?!” asked Siegmeyer, looking over at Seiko as she threw a second.

She forced a third of the same technique to ready, heaving great breathes, face grimacing with effort against her exhaustion.

“Get close to it after I throw this. Get its attention and keep it on the bridge where it came from.”

“You’re going to try and knock it off?”

Seiko nodded and threw the third Great Chaos Fireball, forcing the Golem back yet another step, back onto the bridge opposite the one they’d come from. Siegmeyer waited a second, then ran forward. Even a few seconds after, the air was stiflingly hot, but he held his ground and slashed across the Iron Golem’s stomach. It swung its hands down to its sides, as if trying to swat away the heat, then quickly tried to grab Siegmeyer. Siegmeyer turned to roll away from it, but he was caught. The Iron Golem quickly let go, however, when its own grip drove Siegmeyer’s spiked shield into its palm. Siegmeyer spun around, assuming the Golem would be between attacks, and slashed again. This time, his sword was able to slice a rent into the Iron Golem’s left arm.

Seiko had repositioned herself, lined up for her attack. She sprinted forward, not quite diagonally across the main platform, legs already burning from fatigue, and jumped with all her might. As the Golem recoiled from grabbing Siegmeyer, she slammed her boots into its chest in a dropkick for the ages. The Golem began started to stumble away from the force, back and to its right, but its foot found no purchase. Seiko saw Siegmeyer’s shield stuck in the Golem’s hand as it floated up, limp as the Golem began to fall. She ripped the shield out and jumped again, throwing her other hand up to reach for the edge of the bridge… She would come up just barely short…

Siegmeyer had made a dive, laid down on the edge of the bridge, and reached down to grab her hand. He braced and yanked her up. He could immediately see how tired she was, eyes heavy lidded, hair matted to her face with sweat, a mess. Before he could give a word of praise or otherwise, Seiko held out his shield, tried to force a smile, and passed out.

\--

Siegmeyer kept her from falling over, slowly letting her onto the floor. He retrieved his sword and started looking around for the way forward. While he had his back turned, he heard the flapping of large leathery wings. He spun, expecting a drake of some kind, and found a white-skinned demon gathering up Seiko to fly away with her. He ran forward, Zweihander at the ready, but the demon took off ahead of him and flew out of reach.

“You vile thing! Unhand h-”

Two other demons flew right at him, grabbing one arm each in an iron grip and lifting him off the ground. They were immediately out over the forest; if Siegmeyer struggled, he would fall to his death. The demons carrying him banked around the top of the fortress, joining the demon holding Seiko. The two Undead had both no power to change their destination, nor any way of knowing where they were being taken…


	13. Chapter 13

**-Anor Londo-**

Siegmeyer couldn’t help but wonder how many thousands of Undead had been stunned by the same sight he now beheld. Anor Londo, the seat of Lord Gwyn, his knights and progeny, and the destination of all who brave Sen’s Fortress. The city was illuminated in a breathtaking sunset that cast the buildings in gold. The demons carrying Siegmeyer and Seiko deposited them on a high platform on the mountain. There were stairs nearby that led down toward the entrance to the city, and the demons perched on the rampart surrounding the platform.

Siegmeyer slipped his Zweihander into its strap on his back, picked up Seiko to carry over his right shoulder, and started down the stairs. It was awkward with the extra weight, but Siegmeyer managed to make it down the stairs and came upon a giant in worn armor standing aside a massive archway into a hall. The giant made no move to stop Siegmeyer, so he continued on his way. There was an elevator to the right that would take them down to the city and a set of stairs to the left. Siegmeyer investigated the stairs and could see a bonfire at the bottom. He sighed with relief, picking his way down the steps again.

He set Seiko down near the fire, resting and talking to the Firekeeper while he waited for her to wake up.

\--

“Silver Knight armor? I think I’ll stick with what I have until I’ve got a bit more strength to bear heavier armor,” said Jinta.

“More stamina would be a good idea,” agreed Solaire. “Perhaps we’ll get lucky and find another bonfire.”

“Somehow I doubt that. In any case, this is a way back to where we came from. We should go back up the stairs and move ahead.”

“I agree. But we should rest first. The bonfire is just down the hall, after all.”

“Good idea…”

\--

Seiko woke up curled into a ball on a tiled floor, next to a bonfire. Siegmeyer was seated against a nearby wall, his sword leaning next to him. Seiko tensed her whole body in a stretch and got up, looking around at the unfamiliar place.

“Finally awake, I see.” The Firekeeper, a woman in bronze armor, was the one who spoke.

“Where is this?”

“You don’t know? Well, I suppose you weren’t conscious when you arrived, after all. You are in Anor Londo.”

Seiko looked around again. It was certainly clean and sleek enough to be a fabled city of Lords. She stood and nudged Siegmeyer to get his attention.

“Hmm…?”

He didn’t move. She nudged him again, harder.

“Hmmmmmm…”

Again. Harder this time.

“Hmm- Hmm?! Oh hoh! Sorry. I was pondering our situation. Good to see you doing well again! You gave me quite the scare, you know.”

“I hadn’t practiced much with Chaos Pyromancy. It took more out of me than I thought. I didn’t realize it had, and I overdid it… It caught up with me right after my jump… At least you caught me, though.”

“That was quite the display, to be sure. Chaos Pyromancy, you say? Where did you learn such a thing?”

“From one of the remaining Witches. And one of her charges also taught me how to use poisonous mist from Pyromancy. I have an idea for another Pyromancy, too, but I need to try it. I’m ready to go if you are.”

“Of course. We should move quickly, I imagine. I could see two Undead warriors near the great chapel up ahead, and I’d like either a word with them or to go to their aid.”

Siegmeyer stood up and retrieved his weapons.

“Thank you for the shelter, dear Firekeeper. Perhaps we’ll meet again,” he said.

“You are most welcome, as are any Undead free of sin. Blessing of the moon upon your journey.”

Seiko chose to bow in place of words, then followed Siegmeyer up the stairs toward the elevator.

\--

“You take the little guy, I take the big guy?” asked Jinta, a golden phantom.

“They are Ornstein and Smough, the Dragonslayer and Executioner. I would be best suited for Ornstein, you’re right. Agreed. Let them make the first move, though.”

“I’d prefer not to fight them...”

“I know. But they guard the way, and we have no choice. Besides… The one you’ll be fighting has committed more than enough wrongdoings to warrant your ire. There are rumors he’s a cannibal…”

Jinta grimaced, readying his Estoc and Falchion. Neither side moved against the other for a few seconds, until Ornstein lowered his spear and shot across the room, lightning at his feet. Solaire stepped up quickly, deflecting the spear with his iron shield and scraping his sword across the Dragonslayer’s armor.

Jinta hopped to the left, away from the two as they began to clash, and waited as Smough ran across the room in his odd-looking armor. Jinta dodged away from Smough’s first attack, an overhead swing with a hammer that was so strangely proportioned that it had to be enchanted in some way. The handle was far too thin and long to support a mallet of such a size, nearly as big as Smough himself.

Pillars crumbled here and there as Smough chased down Jinta, Jinta keeping his advantage of light weight and speed over Smough’s heavy and slow style. Solaire and Ornstein traded blows, but neither seemed to be phased by the other very much. Jinta stepped forward quickly, too close for Smough’s next swing to connect, and stabbed with his Estoc. It was the fourth time he connected, but Smough seemed completely fine. He bled freely from the four holes in his armor, but otherwise showed no weakness. He kicked Jinta in the chest, sending him tumbling backward. Jinta recovered, but saw Smough wasn’t on the offensive. Instead, he was running to where Ornstein had fallen to Solaire.

\--

Siegmeyer and Seiko rushed up the massive set of stairs, toward the front doors of the main cathedral. Before they could enter, they were both overcome with dizziness. Their vision swam, as if they were looking at the world through tear-clouded eyes. For Jinta and Solaire, Executioner Smough had fallen, and his soul split evenly between them, changing the balance of power again. When Siegmeyer and Seiko could bear to open their eyes again, the doors were closed, the bridge they’d crossed had been raised, and two Giants were swinging their halberds down. Death mingled with disorientation, and the two were reborn at the Firekeeper’s bonfire.

“Back again, I see,” said the Firekeeper.

Seiko was rubbing her head through her hood, nursing a massive headache even after death. Siegmeyer was standing, a bit out of sorts himself.

“I’ve never seen such a shift before,” said Siegmeyer. “That alone was painful enough… Without the Giants and their hostility afterwards.”

“A shift?” asked Seiko.

“Surely you’re aware of the transitory nature of this world,” said the Firekeeper.

“I don’t know much anymore. I lost nearly all my memories in the Asylum.”

“There’s a lot no one understands,” said Siegmeyer, “But there appear to be many worlds, all anchored to different hosts, with similar events occurring at the same time. If you are the one the world is anchored to, you can affect those events the most, but if you aren’t you can find yourself at the mercy of those shifts. All I’ve been able to gather in my travels is that it has something to do with the strength of one’s soul.”

“Indeed, it does,” said the Firekeeper. “Souls near to one another in power can remain connected to the same world, but should the host gain a substantial advantage over the other Undead, those Undead will be thrust from that world and into another. There is magic to cross worlds temporarily, soapstones and crystals and orbs, but nothing can fuse two worlds except the power of one’s soul.”

Siegmeyer looked at Seiko. “And just like that, today we learn together. Fascinating!”

“So, is the world anchored to the strongest soul in it?” asked Seiko.

“It would appear that way,” answered the Firekeeper.

“With that knowledge, I’d say we’d best remain human as often as we can,” said Siegmeyer. “One of us may be the new master of this world, after a shift like that. We should hurry our way through Anor Londo. You need to catch up with your friend! I’ll take my time exploring here when we’ve accomplished that goal, first.”

The two reversed their Hollowing at the bonfire and thanked the Firekeeper, heading back outside to the elevator. At the bottom, down the stairs, and out to the bridge, a gargoyle stood in their way.

“Hmm… The middle platform’s been raised… We’ll have to reach the lever behind this gargoyle!”

Siegmeyer ran forward, with his usual warcry and zeal, slashing overhead with his Zweihander. The gargoyle jumped back, took flight over the two of them, and started running at them, trying to back them up to the missing bridge, and a fatal drop. Siegmeyer turned, but Seiko held up a hand to keep him from passing her as the gargoyle opened its mouth. Bright orange fire spewed from its mouth, just like in the Undead Parish. Seiko twisted her hands before her, crafting a Fire Surge to match and feeding her strength into it. Her blue flames quickly overtook the gargoyle’s, washing over the beast and causing it to flail. Flesh that once seemed as hard as stone boiled and melted under the Chaos Pyromancy. Siegmeyer stood back, watching as the gargoyle quickly faded to mist, its soul splitting between himself and Seiko.

“I could feel the heat from here,” said Siegmeyer. “Was that the new idea you had?”

Seiko heaved a few breaths to catch up with the exertion, but said, “No, I just wanted to see if Chaos fire could be combined with physical fire, and Fire Surge is the easiest thing I have next to Combustion. My idea is different, but I’ll try it later.”

“Hmm… Well… Now… Now we need can pull the lever here, and- Oh, dear…”

Siegmeyer tried the lever but it wouldn’t move. He set down his sword and used both hands, bracing with a foot against the railing. Still nothing. Seiko stepped forward, hands open. Siegmeyer let go and picked up his sword. Seiko tried and the lever still wouldn’t move at all, even withstanding her grip without so much as an indent.

“Hmm… Perhaps we missed something near the elevator… Or perhaps there’s another path… Hmm… No, we would have seen it. The path to the left should lead to the Duke’s Archives. There’s nothing we need there quite yet. Oh, this is quite the conundrum.”

Siegmeyer sat down, legs over the side of the dead end.

“I’ll have a look around, I guess,” said Seiko.

She backed up, spotting the stairs and a short path below the bridge, but it only led to a dead end with a chest containing Demon Titanite, a rare item for infusing weapons. She returned to Siegmeyer, but soon wandered off again. This time, she saw how a thin support from an adjacent building was close enough to jump onto and walk on. She went back to Siegmeyer again.

“I found a way, I think. We can use the roof there,” she pointed out.

“Oh, my. I doubt I have the balance for that. Not in all my equipment, anyway. And there could be danger up ahead, so I can’t leave it all here… I’m afraid if crossing this is the answer, I’ll have to ask you to go alone. I suppose I’ll go back up the elevator and look for another way myself. We can meet back here after we each explore a bit. Good luck…”

“Same to you,” said Seiko, stepping carefully out onto the thin path and walked up the slanted support toward the building.

\--

The path dead-ended into the wall of the building, but there was a balcony near enough that Seiko could easily jump down to it. Once there, she picked her way through a broken window and looked around. There were rail-thin rafters up above, which appeared to be the only way forward. Seiko approached the ladder that would lead her up to them when she heard something softly hit the ground behind her. She spun and immediately fell over backwards trying to dodge the blade heading right for her eyes. Seiko lashed out with Pyromancy to deter her attacker and jumped to her feet, hands up.

The enemy was a lean man in white, his face hidden, with a belt of throwing knives and two sheathes for curved swords, one of which was naked in his hand. Faster than Seiko could keep up with, he drew a knife from his belt and threw it. Seiko barely registered the attack in time to react, earning a rip in her robe and a thin red line under her ribs. She retaliated with a Fireball, but the man dodged, stepped in, and slashed at her. She jumped back, but he pressed forward, sword flashing. Seiko put out her flames, stepping in herself, and catching the man’s sword-arm and punching him in the stomach.

The force of her punch would have sent him flying, but with her holding onto his arm, he simply flopped and went limp. Seiko threw him by his arm off to the side, where he lay still in a heap. Seiko walked over, taking a throwing knife and trying it out. It took a few tries to get it to fly straight, but once she figured it out, she decided to take the man’s belt of knives. His curved swords were short and light, and Seiko quickly learned they would be of no use, as usual. She continued up the ladder, looking ahead. Sure enough, far across the building, there was another ladder, as if the path she was taking were the intended one. There were also more men and women in white, balanced perfectly on the rafters.

Seiko started out on the thin path, hands out to the side, one foot in front of the other in a slow and steady pace. One beam met another and she had to turn, but the juncture was wide enough that it removed the issue of balance for the turn. Another juncture and she was moving straight ahead again, toward the center of the room where a chandelier hung. One of the white warriors, a woman this time, threw a dagger. Seiko ducked, bending her knees and keeping her hands out. She swayed a bit, but straightened and moved forward again. 

She reached the platform around the chandelier chain and drew her own throwing knife to counter. She threw it, but the woman wasn’t phased by it at all, deftly flipping over the knife as it flew through the air and landing back on the railing, running forward and drawing her curved swords. Seiko stood in front of where the woman’s narrow path would lead and brandished Fire Whip to fill the air with flame. The woman stopped on a dime, sheathed a sword, and threw a knife through the flames, hitting Seiko’s black leather cuirass.

Seiko pulled out the knife, dropping it, and switched to throwing Fireballs with both hands, mixing up the timing on the throws to catch the woman. Nothing would connect, even though the woman was on such thin footing. She seemed to ignore the searing heat as the blue flames passed her by, finally getting close enough to lunge at Seiko. Seiko grinned, her right arm pulled back to hurl a Fireball in a feint, her left whipping forward and snapping out Great Combustion. The woman in white’s curved swords never reached Seiko, as the eruption of blue fire sent her backwards onto the thin rafter. She landed off balance and tumbled over the side, falling all the way to the tiled floor from a dizzying height.

Seiko looked down, unafraid of the height, and saw a small army of warriors in the same outfit. If just one of them was this bad, with a terrain disadvantage, Seiko wanted nothing to do with the ground level. Looking forward there was only one other enemy in the way. She started back out in the rafters… 

\--

Siegmeyer stood up suddenly when he heard the massive platform in front of him start moving. The huge contraption spun around and lowered, forming a bridge toward the massive staircase to the main cathedral. Seiko stood on the center of the platform, next to the rotating handle that changed the platform’s position.

“You did it! Well done! Now we can move forward. Only a little further now!”

Siegmeyer gathered up his sword and shield and started across the platform. He saw Seiko get attacked by another gargoyle, but she dispatched it before he arrived, looking visibly exhausted from all the Pyromancy.

“Can we… Go back…?” she huffed, “And rest first…?”

“Oh, my… I suppose that would be for the best. You’re in no condition to fight like that. Good work, though. This Knight of Catarina commends you, fair Pyromancer. You should tell me what you found while you rest!”


	14. Chapter 14

**-Anor Londo-**

After a rest and recount, Seiko and Siegmeyer crossed the bridge and made their way up the stairs. The Giant Sentinels that guarded the way at the top provided brief pause, until Siegmeyer was able to topple one into the other and finish them before they could recover. The two tested their might against the main door, and a door to the left, and found both impassible. Their only choice was to either continue to the right, where Silver Knights waited with giant bows to repel them, or to try the left. The left had a smaller gate that was closed, but simply reaching through the bars and undoing the lock solved that. A few of the demons that had carried the two to Anor Londo assailed them there, but fell quickly to Seiko’s fire.

This time, the large doors they came upon were open, and inside them sat a giant seated upon a simple chair, hunched over a lump of metal he was hammering with pinpoint accuracy and precision. He appeared to be a blacksmith, barrels of various oils, racks of weapons on the walls, armor pieces strewn about, but he lacked the hearth of a blacksmith. As they stood and watched, the giant produced an ember, like the ones Andre of Astora used, and applied its power to the metal he was working.

“Well. Just look at that. Another blacksmith who employs that technique. You don’t suppose one is a student to the other, do you?” asked Siegmeyer quietly.

The giant heard him and looked up from his work.

“Who are you?” he asked, simply.

“Oh, pardon me, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I am Siegmeyer of Catarina. We are in search of a path to the rear of this cathedral. Would you happen to be able to point us in to the route of least resistance?”

The giant, still holding his hammer, pointed up over his head at a hallway up some stairs in the room.

“If that will be easier than those dreadful Silver Knights, then I thank you.”

“You need smithing?”

The two had already started for the stairs, but Seiko paused.

“Would you be able to make armor for me?”

“Need souls for infusion. Souls power flame.”

“So, if I give you souls, you can make me armor?”

The giant reached down, grabbing the red-hot metal he’d been working with his thumb and forefinger, heedless of any pain, and set it aside. He held out his hand to Seiko.

“Well,” said Siegmeyer, apprehensive. “Are you sure you want to wait for him to finish? We need to catch up to your friend!”

Seiko traded the souls to the giant. She turned to Siegmeyer.

“I’ll come back later for it.” She turned her head back to the giant. “Is that ok?”

“I will work. Armor will wait.”

“Thank you. I’ll be back.”

\--

“Is… That a summon sign?” asked Seiko, pointing.

“Is what- I don’t see anything.”

Seiko bent down to the glowing white sign, just before the room where they’d seen Jinta and Solaire fighting in the distance. When she touched it, a phantom began to rise out of it. The figure wore an Elite Knight full helmet, a rounded Steel chestplate, and gauntlets and boots of the Black Iron knights of Balder. On his left arm was a large Iron Round shield, a huge curved sword called Murakumo in his right hand. Strapped to his hip was the Barbed Straightsword of Knight Kirk.

“Well, well…” said the familiar voice. “I’m not sure what I expected of you, but this still comes as a surprise.”

“Tetsuro?!” said Seiko, recognizing him. It was the same voice, and same height, despite his features being hidden behind all the armor.

“Indeed, I am. And much more closely resembling my former glory as Weaponmaster. I see you still lack proper armor and a weapon.”

“The giant blacksmith is making me some armor, but I didn’t want to wait. Are you up ahead? I’ve been trying to catch up with you ever since you left!”

“Oh, no. I’ve since moved to other places, hunting great souls for the Lordvessel. And who is this?”

“I am Siegmeyer, a Knight of Catarina. You wouldn’t happen to really be Weaponmaster Tetsuro, would you? He was the oddball squire-master when I left, long ago.”

“You’re right, I am.”

“Why did you not bring your armor?! A Knight of Catarina should be proud, disciplined, and loyal!”

“You yourself called me an oddball. If I were to come here, and be the one to link the First Flame, I wanted it to be something I did on my own. I left everything behind, dueled another traveler to the death for his armor and weapons, and waited in the Asylum as a nameless knight for my time to come. In my imprisonment, I finally realized… I wasn’t here to link the flame. I’m not so altruistic. I’m here for strength. Great and memorable battles are my desire. We should duel someday. I’d like to see the strength of one my senior, who held true to the code of Knights. But that’s for another time. You need my help with these two, I take it?”

He nodded toward the archway to his left, meaning Ornstein and Smough.

“We haven’t been in to fight them yet. We don’t know what to expect, to be honest,” said Seiko.

“If the knight we saw earlier wasn’t you,” said Siegmeyer, “Who could it have been?”

“It may have been Jinta, the other warrior from our time in the Asylum. He’s fallen behind me because of his lack of attention and purpose. Honestly, I doubt he’ll make it to a single great soul before he goes Hollow. I overestimated him, I think.”

“Maybe I could help if I caught up to him? I’ll have armor after this fight, and I’ve gotten much better with Pyromancy.”

“I’ve started a bit of training with Pyromancy myself, actually. It seems you freed a Great Swamp Pyromancer while in my world and he was waiting for you. I’m not so good with throwing fire, like you are, but I’m able to use techniques taught by Carmina. Iron Flesh, Flash Sweat, and the like. Once I’m better at using them myself, I’d be glad to teach them to you in exchange for some training from you.”

“I can’t grasp any of it, myself,” said Siegmeyer. “I know a few tales of Miracles, but Pyromancy is foreign to me. In fact, until I met Seiko, I considered it quite strange and unnatural.”

“As I heard it from my teacher, it certainly can be. But all this talk aside, I’d like to get a move on. Shall we?”

Tetsuro stepped up to the archway, waiting for Seiko to enter. Siegmeyer waited for her lead as well, and the three entered the room together behind her, master of the world.

Smough saw them enter and jumped from the upstairs balcony, landing on the pristine tiled floor before three statues for Gwyn’s three children. He readied his hammer, but didn’t say a word. He was joined shortly by Ornstein, one of the four Knights of Gwyn.

“It still escapes me…” said Tetsuro, “How Ornstein  grew to that size. Gough was a giant, and the others were certainly more than human, but… Did all those so powerful one day outgrow their mortal size?”

“Any advice?” asked Siegmeyer.

“Ornstein is extremely fast and powerful. He’s not a Dragonslayer for nothing. Smough’s faster than he looks, but if you stay close enough he’ll have trouble bringing his strength to bear. I had help from Solaire, who brought down Ornstein while I distracted Smough, and the fight progressed… Poorly after that. Smough took control of Ornstein’s power. I’d recommend you two take down Smough while I distract Ornstein instead. Smough doesn’t have anything for Ornstein to take. If I hold out against him, then the three of us together should have no problem-”

Smough leaned over to Ornstein, who was pacing and watching the intruders. Whatever was said, Ornstein readied his spear and launched across the room, sliding over the tile with lightning at his feet, interrupting the conversation. Tetsuro stepped in, deflected the blow with the curve of his shield, and kicked Ornstein in the ribs with all his might. The great Knight stumbled to the side, allowing Seiko and Siegmeyer to run forward and attack Smough, himself rushing forward with his hammer at the ready.

“Face Siegmeyer of Catarina! HYAA!”

Siegmeyer yelled, rolled under Smough’s opening swing, and slammed his greatsword down. The blade scraped across Smough’s armor and hit the floor without leaving a scratch on the tiles. Smough hopped back, sweeping his hammer as he did. Siegmeyer put up his shield to absorb the blow, but was bowled over by the enormous mallot. Seiko appeared in Smough’s line of sight just then, planting her foot in his face and knocking him over.

_ Perfect time to test this…! _ thought Seiko, raising her arm up, fingers curled into a claw. Her hand streaked down onto Smough’s stomach, wreathed in flames. Her hand melted through, the flame went dark, and she jumped away. Smough wriggled on the floor for a moment until fire erupted from the breach in his armor. Muffled screaming could be heard, but Smough rocked himself to his feet, swept his hammer at Seiko, caught the long handle with both hands as it came around, and jumped to slam it down on Seiko as she came out of her dodge.

Tetsuro rolled in front of her, dropped Murakumo, and put both his hands behind his shield. Smough’s hammer struck, but Tetsuro kept his footing under the force, sliding back slightly. Seiko looked over to see Siegmeyer as the one distracting Ornstein now.

“Move, you idiot!” yelled Tetsuro, kicking her away. Smough raised his hammer to strike again, Tetsuro snatched up Murakumo, and the hammer met the empty floor as Tetsuro rolled aside.

Seiko recovered, her black leather cuirass having absorbed the friendly blow, and threw a Fireball at Smough’s head, then a Chaos Fireball at his feet. The first blow blinded the Executioner momentarily, but the second made the floor visibly shimmer as the magic protecting it met flames hot enough to melt boulders. Smough stumbled away from the heat, unable to do much else. As he did, Tetsuro slid his shield onto a strap on his back, turned Murakumo to be reversed in his grip, and lept at Smough, Murakumo’s point aimed right at the hole in his armor, blade up. Tetsuro struck, and Murakumo bit in, but Smough still lived. He let go, dropping to the floor and drawing his Barbed straightsword.

Tetsuro readied to continue the fight until Seiko jumped up and kicked Smough again, while he was still off balance, and knocked him over once more. She put both hands on Murakumo and shoved down, burying the sword over halfway into Smough. The Executioner convulsed and died, the curved blade embedded so tightly even Seiko couldn’t pull it free. As she tried, she was hit by a gold streak, toppled from where she’d stood on Smough’s chest. It wasn’t until she hit the ground that she registered that she’d been stabbed, just above the hip. Her whole body was numb, pins and needles like static rushing over her skin. She couldn’t move a muscle.

In her place, over Smough, stood Ornstein. He hopped down next to his partner, placing a hand on Smough’s armor. Smough began to evaporate into thin air, but Ornstein began to grow taller and larger by the second. Murakumo clattered to the floor, covered in blood, next to Ornstein who was now taller than a house.

“Damn it! Let me guess!” said Tetsuro, “She doesn’t have an Estus Flask?!”

“I’m afraid not,” said Siegmeyer. “We never came across one.”

“You stay here, distract him or something! I can only interact with her, and I need to give her one.”

He ran as Ornstein swept his spear across the air, lightning crackling around it. He raised the spear, readying it to stab at Tetsuro, until Siegmeyer slashed into the back of one of Ornstein’s knees. The blow temporarily brought Ornstein to one knee, but he lashed out with his free hand at Siegmeyer, sending him flying into a pillar.

“Hey! Get up! Take this! And you’d better not waste it. I already put my own work into it.”

He slammed down a quarter-filled Estus Flask, tinted with white as he was, ethereal.

Seiko reached for it, cringing as the motion sent waves of pain over her. As soon as he was sure she could move, Tetsuro ran to join Siegmeyer, who was busy trying to get close enough to get a hit in without being swept aside or stabbed. Ornstein stepped in and slammed his spear down flat, whipped it back up, and kicked at Siegmeyer. Tetsuro stepped under the kick and slashed over his head, into Ornstein’s heel. His sword ripped into the armor, but left without a scratch, only trailing mist.

“What the- DAGH!”

Ornstein swept his foot back, sending Tetsuro sliding over the floor into the wall headfirst. Tetsuro rolled to his feet and right into Ornstein’s spear. The tip of the spear took up nearly his entire torso and he was lifted into the air. Across the room, he saw Seiko drinking the Estus, which kept him from fading away. He grinned to himself in his helmet, waiting for Ornstein to fling him away… Until Ornstein ran lightning through his spear, causing Tetsuro’s phantom to burst into mist and vanish.

“Young Weaponmaster! You vile fake! Seiko, it’s some illusion! Some magic! That’s no Knight of Gwyn! We have to disrupt it somehow! RAAAH!”

Siegmeyer hefted his sword and ran in again. Seiko sprinted in as well, much faster than Siegmeyer, lashing out with a Fire Whip as she ran, dragging the blue fire across Ornstein’s form. The blue flame and white mist mixed in the air before fading, revealing Ornstein sweeping his spear at Seiko. She jumped over it, flipped, landed at an angle to kill her momentum, had to take another step for balance, and pitched a Chaos Fireball at Ornstein. She saw Ornstein start to sweep the spear back toward her while stepping back to avoid the Pyromancy, so she jumped again, flipping to the side and landing again barely off balance.

Siegmeyer continued to give chase, slashing across Ornstein’s knees. The strike shifted Ornstein’s stance and he fell, catching himself with his hands. He pulled a foot under himself, stepping forward and rising to his full height again, his other leg lashing out at Siegmeyer in a kick. Siegmeyer avoided the kick and slashed again, bringing Ornstein to his hands and knees again. This time, when he landed, his face was right in front of Seiko.

“NOW!” yelled Siegmeyer.

Seiko’s hand, once again tensed into a claw, stabbed forward into Ornstein’s helmet. White mist flew from the impact, her hand burned through, the flame went out, and she jumped away. There was a pause, then an explosion of blue flames and white mist as Ornstein was consumed from within by Seiko’s Pyromancy.

\--

Seiko stumbled when she landed from her backstep, swaying forward, and falling to her hands and knees herself. Her breathing was labored, and she wasn’t alone. Siegmeyer fell back, collapsing to the floor and heaving great breaths.

“That… That was genius!” proclaimed Siegmeyer between breaths. “Terrifying! But splendid!”

Seiko looked over at him, unable to speak, and smiled as best she could before letting her head droop again and trying to recover.

Siegmeyer sat up, pushing himself to his feet. He walked over and pulled Seiko up, offering a hand for her to take.

“Now…! We must have realigned your world with that ‘Jinta’ fellow’s. We can’t sit still. Even now he could be moving even further ahead. Come on! To the elevator!”

The two shuffled forward, exhausted, to a large platform to the right that appeared built to carry Smough to the second floor. The platform rose, they stepped off, and came within sight of a bonfire.

“Oh! Thank the merciful Lords!”

The two went straight for the fire, immediately being fed energy from the flame. Seiko’s new Estus Flask filled up to a quarter again as well.

“Well. You go on ahead, then. I’ve got exploring to do in the city before I move on. You should catch up to Jinta.”

“Thank you for everything, Siegmeyer… I never would have made it here without you.”

“Oh, I think you give me too much credit. You’ve a strong spirit. If you can find a purpose to apply yourself to, such as seeing the world like me, I think you’ll find yourself to be quite resilient. It would have taken a great deal longer for you alone, but I have little doubt you’d never have made it. Now, made it in time to meet your friend and find a new goal in helping another Undead, perhaps not! That, at least, I can accept credit for. The Knights of Catarina have treated you well. I do hope you’ll remember us as you go.”

“Always, Siegmeyer. I appreciate your faith in me as well. I guess I could do with more of that myself, huh?”

“Weren’t you the one who said Pyromancy took a strong will? Your Pyromancy is undoubtedly strong. I’m inexperienced on the subject, but I think if all Pyromancers were as powerful as you they’d have quite a different reputation in the world. I’m willing to bet you’re one of the best! Prove me right, won’t you? Now, go! And don’t be slow!”

Seiko bowed to him and ran toward the stairs up ahead, waving back at him as she went.

\--

Seiko went through the open doors to the last sight she expected. A giant of a woman lay across many pillows in a room softly lit with the setting sun, wrapped in white cloth.

“Ahh, Blue Child,” said the woman, “I am Gywnevere, Daughter of Gwyn and Princess of Sunlight. Thou hast overcome much with the help of others, but let that not steal from thy faith. Thou are indeed an important figure, though how thy will act is yet to be seen by all. Let me grant thee purpose, fair Undead, and ease thee in thy struggle.”

Seiko was in awe, but stepped forward.

“Where did Jinta go?”

“The Chosen Undead has since left to fulfill his duty, but if thee should be willing, his burden may be eased by thy action.”

“Of course! Tetsuro said he was having a hard time. If I can meet with him, I’m sure we’d do better together! I’m still very foggy on the world… I don’t have many memories from before the Asylum.”

“Oh, child, it is not for thee to stand by the Chosen Undead’s side this day. What suffering doth befall him is necessary to build him up. Allowing thee to ease his journey in such a way would only bring him pain and failure when he is needed most of all. No, thy path must be different, but yet intertwined. There are answers thy seeketh which must be discover’d as well, not so easily handed thee. My message to thee is this: Seeketh the Four Kings of New Londo, who resideth in the howling Abyss. Thou shall deliver the shard of Father Gwyn’s soul, which the Kings yet hold, to the Chosen Undead. Thy faith shall be tested many times, by thy journey, thy past, and thy destination itself.”

“The destination will test me? I don’t understand…”

“In time it will be clear to thee. To aid thee in thy mission, by my power shall thy world and his remain connected. This is not without risk to thee, as the Chosen Undead will affect the world in ways unexpected to thee, and the shift of power may bring thee peril.”

“Was I supposed to help him from the beginning? Is that why I was freed when I was?”

Gwynevere paused.  _ How would my sister respond? _ thought Gwyndolin.

“The will of Lords hath long been a myst’ry. That thee find thyself here is no mistake. With thy aid shall the First Flame burn brightly once more.”

Now it was Seiko who paused, her eyes lowered in thought.

“You know everything about me… Don’t you?” asked Seiko.

Gwynevere smiled.

“But you want me to find out myself. And you’ve given me a way I can do that. And you’ve told me I can also help link the First Flame. Why can’t I be the one to link the fire?”

“There can be but one Chosen Undead, for there is but one Lordvessel.”

“But Tetsuro also rang the bells and came here, didn’t he?”

“Time and space, too, waver in myst’ry.”

“So there can only be one Chosen Undead in one world? I guess that makes sense. If one Chosen Undead links the fire, will it affect everyone?”

“That, child, I cannot answer. It has not come to pass since Father Gwyn enter’d the Kiln, long ago.”

Seiko was disappointed with the answer, apparent by her expression. She considered her options, which weren’t many. Following Gwynevere’s advice was smart, as she was the daughter of a Lord, and of course there was only so much anyone could know, but there was still a doubt chewing at her. Something small was out of place, but she couldn’t tell what.

“I will do as you ask, Princess,” said Seiko, meeting Gwynevere’s gaze again. “It’s true that if I don’t, I will continue to lack purpose. If I at least go along with this mission, I might be able to find purpose. I’m also tired of relying on others. Companionship is nice, but I learned from Tetsuro to not fear death so much, even if I’ll die more often alone. And Siegmeyer is right too - that I should see more of the world, and use my rebirth to expand my knowledge and experience. If there’s nothing else, I’ll get started.”

“There is naught else I can say, Blue Child. Blessing of sunlight on thy journey.”

Seiko turned and walked out, still skeptical for the moment.

\--

A thick clunk sounded and the elevator started down. Seiko thought back one more time to what Siegmeyer had told her.

“The way below is near Firelink, down an elevator. I’ve yet to explore there myself. There are dreadful spirits, it’s dark, and the legends say no one can survive the touch of the Abyss for long. It’s terribly dangerous. I can’t go with you if you leave now… Be careful, please…”

Seiko looked down into her gauntleted hand, at a small ring with a pink gem.

“… And take this, a token of my thanks. Good luck…”

As the elevator stopped at the bottom, Seiko was replacing her gauntlet after putting on the ring. She wore Silver Knight armor with no cape. Instead, her gold-hemmed robes acted as a cape, as she still wore the hood. The cloth bunched around her shoulders, but flowed behind her down to the middle of her thighs. She looked around, in the underground city lit only by a sliver of sunlight high above and far away, and found she could see very little. She clenched her right fist and lit it afire, holding it high to flood her surroundings in bright blue light, and stepped off the elevator…


	15. Chapter 15

**-New Londo-**

There were Hollows everywhere, but not a single one could be bothered with Seiko. She spotted one stretched out near the edge of a cliff, so she approached that one and found stairs near it. As she headed down she could see the stairs had crumbled away before long, and didn’t lead anywhere. She turned to go back, but someone called out to her.

“Hey, you there! You’re no Hollow, are you?”

Seiko turned to the young man’s voice, spotting him through a barred window in the wall next to her.

“No. I’m Seiko, a Pyromancer. I’m looking for the Four Kings.”

“Well… Not Hollow, but certainly crazy… I’m Rickert, of Vinheim. If you’re after them, I hope you’ve figured out how to traverse the Abyss without dying, otherwise you’ll be smacking your head on the wall in no time, just like the others around here.”

Seiko didn’t look amused.

“I appreciate the confidence…” she said, disappointedly sarcastic. “Can you help me?”

“Hmm… Well, I can do a few things. One, I can tell you that there’s an old sealer further in who would know more. Two, I can smith a bit if it’s got to do with magic. And three, you’ll need a way to fight the ghosts down here if you intend to move on, and I know a spell that can help you do that, for a price. No offense, it’s just hard to make a living down here. Can’t go offering services for free in my state.”

“Is the sealer a powerful mage? Or are you?”

“I… I was the best smith in Vinheim. My magic is strictly for forging and modifying weapons. If that’s what you mean, then, indeed, I am powerful. But somehow I doubt that’s what you mean. No one would have heard of me to tell you of me. Not here… If someone told you about a powerful mage in New Londo, then surely they meant the sealer.”

“I see. I need to meet with him, for more reasons than I originally thought. I have the souls to trade for your spell, if you don’t mind. I was warned about the spirits here before, and now by you. I suppose I’ll need it.”

“Of course. I’ll help you out, then. Do be careful when you go. Don’t end up another loon, either.”

They traded souls and Rickert cast his spell. A greenish white light formed a film around Seiko’s body before fading.

“There. It will only last a few hours, though, so you’d better hurry if you want it to last round-trip. Without it you won’t be able to do a thing to the ghosts. No Pyromancy or weapon of yours will touch them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks again.”

Her make-shift torch faded back up the stairs once more, leaving Rickert in the near darkness she’d found him in.

\--

**-The Painted World of Ariamis-**

Jinta, out of Humanity, crouched in the snow over his find. A dead human, clothed in black, with a spellbook in one hand and an odd rapier in the other. He lifted the spellbook and found most of it in a language he couldn’t understand, but there was a chapter at the end that contained something he could. The tale of a dark Miracle, which the book called Vow of Silence. It seemed like it might be useful one day, despite the tale disturbing Jinta slightly, so he put the small book in a pouch on his belt. He rose and looked around, deciding to continue on his way.

Later still, Jinta came across the body of someone who had invaded him not long before. The Pyromancer carried a tome of his findings, which Jinta also took. He looked around a bit more before making his way back out to the courtyard. He dodged thrown spears from the enemies in the center, hiding behind large stone cages that littered the yard, dashing for the door he’d come from into another courtyard. He crossed the second yard and stepped out onto a ruined bridge. He saw a Hollow further down nock an arrow, so he braced himself to dodge, waited, sidestepped the shot, and sprinted forward. He easily cleaved through the frail archer, but heard many more climb over the side of the bridge to surround him.

Jinta stood tensed, waiting. One of the Hollows stumbled forward, flailing its broken sword. A flick of Estoc to deflect the attack and a slash with Falchion and there was one less Hollow. A step and a stab with Estoc and another fell. Jinta spun, no longer surrounded, hopped back to avoid a Hollow jumping at him, stepped in, stabbed his attacker deeply, and spun while keeping his target close. The spin dislodged the Hollow from Estoc as he slashed another Hollow, leaving just one. The last Hollow seemed like it was having trouble deciding if it was standing on the floor or the wall, its head tilted completely horizontal. Its foot shifted forward, not even lifting, and Jinta had stepped in and run past it. It never even turned around to follow.

Further ahead, a man in steel armor sat on the bridge just before a crumbled spot that narrowed the bridge so barely one person could cross. He saw Jinta approaching, so he stood, taking up his sword and tower shield. He rushed forward, chopping overhead at Jinta. Jinta dodged to the side, just barely, and stabbed past the knight’s arm into his armpit. He cringed, giving Jinta the opening to jump up onto the bridge’s guardrail and jump down behind the knight. The knight spun to face him and found him missing. The moment of confusion was punctuated by Estoc ramming through his chest from behind.

Jinta stepped over the knight after he fell and proceeded forward slowly, toward a tall female figure with an enormous scythe who definitely knew he was coming…

\--

**-New Londo-**

Green mist blasted into the air before Seiko’s fist when it came in contact with the first ghost. They looked feminine, clothed in flowing robes, and were almost completely transparent, but they were hardly a threat if they vanished after a simple punch. Or so Seiko thought until the second one extended its arms, stabbed her in the sides of her neck and tore its blades out the front of her rib cage. Seiko landed facedown on the platform she was on, barely above the floodwaters in the chamber, blood streaming into the water. She reached down for her Estus, weakly drinking it. The honey-thick and warm fluid immediately healed her wounds, though the pain wasn’t soon forgotten. Seiko stood up, new respect for her opponents, and watched the ghost before making any moves.

The ghost once again extended its arms, so Seiko dodged aside and ran in while its arms were too far away to counter and punched the ghost. Just like the first, it vanished instantly. Seiko looked around, her eyes drawn to a staircase lit with blue-flame torches, probably enchanted to stay lit. She went up the stairs, encountering a few more ghosts on the way, making her way further through New Londo’s ruins. With all the water and no telling how deep it was or what was in it, or even if she could survive falling in it if it was to seal the Abyss, Seiko had few options for choosing a route. She soon found herself on a bridge leading to a church that was built into the side of the massive cavern. She could see someone standing on the roof, so she hoped it was the sealer and continued toward it.

Once inside, Seiko wandered the side hallways of the church for a few minutes before finding her way to the main room. Though, upon finding it, she was skeptical about entering. Human bones covered the floor, more full and undamaged ones near the walls, and a rough, damp bone powder everywhere else. The smell was odd enough on its own without the crunching of the powder under Seiko’s boots. To top it off, just one ghost hovered in the center of the room. Seiko passed the room up, opting to look around for another way up to the roof.

A few more ghosts and not much else later, Seiko returned to the room. Still, the lone ghost floated in the center of the room. With no way to know how much longer Rickert’s spell would last, Seiko quickly decided she’d better just go in and get it over with. She readied her Pyromancy for the first time outside a simple light source, blue flames swirling dimly in her hands, and stepped in. The ghost in the center of the room immediately opened glowing red eyes and wailed so loud Seiko thought her head would burst. She stumbled back, flames going out, her hands over her ears, unable to even keep her eyes open after the sensory overload.

Ghosts started coming out of the floors, the walls, the ceiling, and from every direction, even behind her. They all had the same curved daggers in each hand, all in flowing robes. Only the banshee that had screamed was different, hair floating out in all directions like a bloated corpse in the water, sparks of lightning tracing her form. Seiko swept a hand across the room, Fire Surge to keep the ghosts back. It repulsed a few, but several more took their place, floating steadily toward Seiko to get close enough to attack. Seiko felt a hot stinger in her ribs and lurched forward, glancing back to see her blood on the dagger of a ghost behind her.

With so many foes, Seiko decided to throw her caution aside and use Firestorm. She thrust her palm onto the wet, bone-ridden floor and released her flames. Pillars of blue fire erupted from the floor and walls nearby, obscuring everything from view for a few moments. Seiko sagged from the excursion, but felt noticeably better than the last time she’d tried the technique. It was definitely possible to use it more than once without being crippled now. The problem arose when the air cleared and not a single ghost had been harmed. Rickert’s spell had worn off.

Seiko looked up, shocked but not exactly surprised. She glanced back again to see the previous room full of ghosts.

_ If I can’t hit them, can I just run through th- _

The ghosts all began stabbing and slashing at her. Before she could even move or think anything else, Seiko was a bloody heap on the floor. Not that that stopped the ghosts from stabbing at her until her form blew away in ashes.

\--

“BytheLords-! Oh…”

Rickert recoiled from his window when Seiko appeared in it without warning, Hollow face shrouded by her hood.

“Well. Took too long, I see. And now you’ve gone and lost your souls too.”

Seiko reached a hand through the bars and opened it. A twin Humanity sprite wiggled out of her palm, her offering in place of souls.

“Please… I have to go back in…”

Rickert looked from the Humanity to her, sighing.

“I can’t say it’s not something I could sell… Fine. But just this once. Give it here.”

He held out his hand and accepted the sprite. He picked up his staff from the floor to cast his curse again.

“Don’t waste it this time… Be careful…”

\--

The way forward was much easier the second time, since Seiko knew where to go. Some new ghosts had wandered into her path, but with proper caution, Seiko dispatched them easily. When she reached the room with the banshee, recovering her lost souls, Seiko threw a Chaos Fireball without hesitation. The banshee tried to scream, but faded out as the sound had barely begun to rise from her mouth. Seiko ran to the center of the room and cast Firestorm, just as the ghosts that had killed her emerged from their hiding places. The room filled with fire and mist, the air swirling and rising, blowing the silvery-blue mixture out of fireplace chimney in the room. Seiko rose, breathing heavily, and kept her head on a swivel, looking for more threats as she looked around the room. She found a ladder in the fireplace and climbed it, hoping it went up high enough to lead to the roof.

As soon as she reached the top, Seiko saw she was right, but she was also met with the silver tip of a staff in her face. A figure in red robes and an iron mask was at the other end. Something sent a chill down Seiko’s spine, the perception of immense power. She put out her flames and put up her hands in surrender.

“Are you the sealer I’ve heard about?”

“I am,” said the voice of an old man. The figure lowered the staff. “And you’re no Hollow, despite looking the part. Have you no Humanity left?”

“I have Humanity, but I didn’t want to waste a second getting to you in case you left and I couldn’t find you again.”

The old man chuckled. “Oh, no, I’m not going anywhere. Someone needs to keep watch over the seal, otherwise who knows what might happen to Lordran. If the Abyss should ever escape…”

“I have so many questions for you… I’m sorry if I seem rude or insistent, but I’ve come a long way to see you, both for my own reasons and to help someone else.”

“Well, I’ve nowhere to go and nothing to do. Simply take your time and I’ll do my best to answer.”

_ Where to begin…? _

“Well… I was told to come to New Londo and take the shard of Lord Gwyn’s soul back from the Four Kings. Where are they?”

“I’m afraid that will be nearly impossible. The Kings are what is believed to have anchored the Abyss to this place to begin with. They, like the howling dark, are sealed away beneath the water. Even if I broke the seal, you could never survive the Abyss. Only Sir Artorias has ever been known to do such a thing.”

“Wasn’t he a Knight of Gwyn? I’ve heard his name before.”

“To put it simply, yes, he was a Knight of Gwyn. He became known as the Abysswalker for his victory, long ago, in Oolacile over the Abyss. He and his great wolf, Sif, stemmed the flow of Abyss from Oolacile by striking at its heart, venturing in and returning alive unlike anyone before him.”

“How did he do it?”

“No one truly knows.”

Seiko looked troubled. “Princess Gwynevere told me I had to do this to help the Chosen Undead, Jinta. She said figuring this out was important to me somehow. Are you sure there’s no way it can be done? Maybe Artorias taught someone else?”

“Artorias left nothing but his legacy, as far as I’m aware. He dueled with Ornstein many times, but it was the clashing of warriors who needed to trust each other in battle, I’m sure. If Ornstein knew how to fight the Abyss, I can’t see him not using his knowledge forthwith.”

“Where are he and Sif now?”

“Artorias died long ago.”

Seiko sighed in disappointment, trying to decide where to continue her questions from.

“Who are you,” said the sealer, “to have been sent to me by the Sun Princess on such a mission?”

“I’m Seiko, a Pyromancer.”

“Oh, come now, there must be more than that. Your flames came blasting out of the church below. Even I know that’s not average Pyromancy.”

“I was taught by Quelaana. She was a Witch of Izalith, wasn’t she? A daughter of the original Pyromancer?”

“There we are. Trained by Quelaana herself, you say? I haven’t known her to take a pupil since Master Salaman. I take it you took your name for the blue flames, then?”

“She named me too, actually…” said Seiko, slightly ashamed. “I’d forgotten my name… Nearly gone Hollow…”

The sealer’s expression was hidden under his mask, but he hummed in pity.

“I see… Blue Child. An Easterner’s name. Quite common among those who’ve nearly lost their way, I think. They’re quite easy to cobble together with just an idea, after all. I am Ingward, the last sealer of New Londo.”

“I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time…”

“So you said. I trust, then, that there’s another matter you wished to inquire about besides what Gwynevere sent you here for?”

“Yes. Quelaana said a powerful mage would be able to recover my memories if I submitted to them.”

“Hmm… She was correct, but… Not only is that quite a dangerous thing for you to do - submit to a mage and let them into your head - but I find it hard to agree to such a thing without a proper reason.”

“I can’t say that I have one, really. All I knew before Quelaana was that I was waiting in the Undead Asylum for some reason, because I have a natural strength powerful enough to break down just about anything manmade.”

“Interesting… So all you had to go by was your tremendous physical strength? And yet you could not only see Quelaana, but she took you on as a pupil…”

There was a moment of silence.

“Tell me, Blue Child, why do you need those memories? Are you not an individual already, with a name and a purpose?”

“Gwynevere said this task would help me find purpose.”

“Ahh, but you had to reach her first. That alone is no simple feat.”

“I only made it that far because I had help from two Knights of Catarina.”

“You’re not doing very much to convince me, despite coming so far. Are you sure you don’t already have purpose?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come now. A pupil of Quelaana, helpless as a newborn babe, hiding behind two Knights of Catarina from the Asylum all the way to Anor Londo, through the ringing of the Bells and all? I find a tale like that hard to believe. Did you really not help them at all? Or is that some misplaced humble motion? Or perhaps self-loathing? No matter what it is, it doesn’t make much sense after finding you here, before me, having fought through New Londo by yourself.”

Seiko could only stare. If she had eyelids, she’d be blinking in confusion.

“You see? You twist your own story. I don’t need access to your memories to be able to tell that much from your demeanor, tone, and the inconsistency of your stories. You’re making me curious as to what your memories truly are now.”

“You said you didn’t feel right doing it… It’s not something I can force you to do in a fight or anything, and I’m not so good with words… As much as I want to bull forward and insist, you seemed too likely to just turn me away. I can’t do anything further without your help, memories or no. Besides, something tells me your magic could overpower me even if I did try to force you.”

“Ahh, proper respect and caution. Answer me this, then, if I don’t help you, would you seek another mage who would?”

“I would.”

“Then I find myself having a change of heart. There are a few members of the Dragon School wandering around Lordran, and I’m hesitant to trust them with a task such as this. They are ravenous for knowledge in a way that would be dangerous to Quelaana if they should learn of her existence. Very well. I will use the spell. However, I need you to agree to a few things first.”

Seiko nodded, waiting.

“First, I won’t release your memories to you just yet, not without seeing them myself first. Second, you must promise me that, to your knowledge, you were a moral and upstanding person before you lost your way. If I find that you were not, know that I will not release your memories, as the trauma of who you are now meeting who you used to be could drive you mad right then and there. Third, and finally, you must agree to tell no one that I did this. Quelaana should not have told you this was possible, nor should she have sent you to me at all. But she did, and she gambled on us both being as reasonable as we are to make things work. I do this in part for her, in part for you, and in part for my own curiosity. Do you agree?”

“I do. I won’t tell anyone, and if you need to protect me from my own memories, I trust you to do that. Quelaana never did anything to hurt me. I have no reason to think her trust in you is misplaced either.”

“Very well… Hold still…”

\--

A/N: Quiet Water by Toby Fox

\--

Clashing of swords in a yard, training.

Many visions of a simple house in the forest.

A silvery-blonde woman who’s face wouldn’t quite piece together.

Playing in the forest.

Loneliness.

The disappearance of the woman.

Deep sadness and solitude.

Visions of a long forest road.

Things speed up. Fights blur past, death seeps in and darkens the memories.

Vast power and speed, inhuman even.

Another long road.

The cell in the Asylum.

Flashes of the recent happenings.

\--

Seiko found herself still standing on the roof, displaced. She felt as if she’d woken slowly from a deep sleep. It was dark, and she couldn’t tell right away if she was still standing upright. All at once she regained herself and snapped to attention, looking around.

“Ing-! -ward… What happened?”

She hadn’t seen him right away because he was sitting on a large brick, out of breath.

He didn’t respond right away, heaving with exhaustion from the use of his magic.

“You… You were…” he gasped. He reached up and pulled off his mask and pointed hat, revealing his long grey hair and full beard and mustache. He paused a moment more, catching his breath.

“You haven’t changed much… You were a bright girl at first, but growing up so alone calmed you down.”

He took a moment to breathe.

“I can still see the cheerfulness in you, but… It mani… fests in different ways… You seek to help others because… Phew, because you know what fighting alone is like. As for why…”

He sucked a great breath, looking into space with a vacant expression, still sifting through what he’d found.

“You, my dear, are the secret child of Sir Artorias and Lord’s Blade Ciaran. Not even Artorias knew, it seems… I take back what I said earlier. For you, and you alone, it may be possible to reach the Four Kings. I can’t imagine anyone else has the slimmest chance of getting past Sif, much less fighting and defeating the Kings.”

“What was my name?”

Ingward looked at her for the first time since casting his spell.

-“My dear, your name is but a label. Even if I told you your name, it would not be the name of she who stands before me.- When you lost your way, you lost much of your previous self. When you began moving forward again, you were given a new name. -Honor your name, and honor yourself. After all, being named by Quelaana, a Sister of Chaos, on top of your heritage, is more than enough to make a legend of you.”-

Seiko couldn’t decide on anything to say to that. Ingward was right, of course, but curiosity wasn’t something to be ignored on the matter. If he didn’t tell her, she doubted anyone ever would. Now that she understood what was involved in submitting to a mage, she wasn’t very willing to do it again. Anyone not completely trustworthy could use the same magic, she guessed, to erase memories or alter her personality completely, which wasn’t a comforting thought in the least.

“If you insist,” said Ingward, “I will release your memories to you. I should explain that they are not simply locked away in your brain, just beyond your reach. They are gone forever, forgotten entirely and replaced. Such is the nature of the curse. The magic uses you as an anchor and casts both the subject and the caster’s minds back in time. As the subject, I’m sure you saw flashes of what I saw, but the caster… The caster relives every moment as if it were real. It takes a great deal of willpower to perform the technique, something I’ve only done twice before, and not lose oneself. For that reason, it is a forbidden and lost art. I won’t pass it to anyone, and the mages I’m aware can do it will hopefully decide on the same course of action.

But, as I said, if you insist on having them I will pass them to you. You wouldn’t change much, but you would need to decide how to refer to yourself and introduce yourself. It is a life-altering choice to make. If you need time, you may take it.”

Seiko heaved a sigh, biting the inside of her lip and thinking about what Ingward had said and what she’d seen. She wanted to keep moving toward her goal now that she had a concrete one, but this was an opportunity that wouldn’t present itself twice. Would it be better to know those years she’d lost? Her mother and where she’d come from? Quelaana had said a strong will and sense of self would strengthen her Pyromancy, after all. Or would it be better to leave what was forgotten alone? To shape a new self, a new story, and simply let go of the past? She knew more than she could have ever hoped to without Ingward already.

“What do you think?” she asked at length.

Ingward shifted where he sat, joining his hands.

“If I were you, which I can only imagine as I have never experienced Hollowing in an advanced form as you have, I would want my life back. Good or bad wouldn’t concern me. I would feel baseless and empty without knowing my early years, my family, and why I was the way I was. I seek an explanation for everything - such is the nature of many mages - and I would always find myself searching for the answers I would never have without a chance like you have.”

“I don’t want to waste your efforts,” said Seiko, “But I also find myself leaning toward leaving it all behind.”

“Don’t concern yourself with that, K-... Seiko. It will take time for me to recover, but this is a choice you must make for yourself only. Before long we may part ways and never meet again. Forget what I want, young Undead. Make the choice you will be able to live with.”

Seiko bowed as properly as she knew how, hands folded in front of her.

“I appreciate that you gave in to my request, but after hearing your advice, I’ve decided to leave who I used to be in the past. Thank you for your help.”

“You are welcome. At the very least, I have a good understanding of Pyromancy now, if I should ever require the use of it. Now… Before you go, take this. It is the key to drain the water and break the seal. Once you use it, and the gates open, cross the bridge and follow the cliff. Straight ahead of the bridge is the Darkroot Forest, where you will find Sif and the grave of Sir Artorias, but you should take the time to visit your teacher, if you can find her. You will need all the help you can get for your fight with the Kings, for they will not simply hand over the shard of Lord Gwyn’s soul. You will be weakened by the Abyss as well, unless Artorias’ grave holds some secret to negate it entirely. Do not tarry, as the longer the seal is undone, the more likely it is that the Abyss will begin to spread anew.”

Seiko took the key from him.

“Thank you for all you’ve done. I’ll return as soon as I can to recover the Lord Soul shard and stop the Abyss from spreading.”


	16. Chapter 16

**-Blighttown-**

After reversing her Hollowing at the bonfire, Seiko trudged out into the swamp to look for Quelaana. Once again, she held her fist overhead, lit with her blue flames like a torch. Before long, it was Quelaana who found her, appearing as if from nowhere near one of the massive pillars in the muck.

“Well… Look at you. You’re a fair measure stronger than when you left, and in more ways than one. As grateful as I am to see you’ve returned, I trust this isn’t a simple visit. You’ve an air of haste and duty about you.”

“I need to find the grave of Artorias and face the Four Kings of New Londo. I found the mage you were talking about in New Londo, but I chose to leave what I’d forgotten behind. He said I should hurry and find you in case there was anything else I could learn from you that would help me.”

“Indeed, I have more I could show you, but I will not give up my knowledge so simply. Come, show me what you’ve learned. If you are ready, I will share more with you.”

\--

“Chaos Fire… No need to ask where you learned that.” Quelaana looked on, motioning for Seiko to continue. Seiko demonstrated Toxic Mist next, showed that she could cast Firestorm without being completely drained, and lastly showed her simple torch.

“I have one other I haven’t named yet that I thought of,” said Seiko. “If I can grab an enemy, I can force my Pyromancy inside them and let it flare.”

“Inside them? I’ve never seen that done, but I imagine it’s quite possible… Though very cruel and strange… What sort of desperate situation forced that out of you?”

“I fought alongside Catarina Knights in heavy armor, and fought a Chaos Demon who didn’t care about my flames very much. But I thought that, if I could get past those defenses, there could be no way that the same fire that burned dragons and toppled great trees could be resisted. So I came up with the idea of forcing flames into something.”

Quelaana sighed. “For the kind of horrors you will face, I imagine there will be times that such a technique will be useful… But I would like you to consider what such a thing must feel like. Of course, now I must practice the technique myself to understand it, but I would never have thought of such a thing. Do be careful you don’t let your creativity get the best of your fear.”

“Yes, Sister… I’m sorry…”

“Do not apologize. But as well, do not teach the technique to anyone. I hardly trust you with it, but as you are the one who created it I cannot keep it from you. Moreover, it will make what I need to teach you now easier to understand.”

Seiko tilted her head.

“I will share the rest of the knowledge I gave Salaman with you. You will learn to charm simple Undead, as the flames entice all living things, and to change yourself. I heard long ago of Salaman’s creations, and the teachings of his star pupil, Carmina as well. There have been more creations since then, but what I teach you now will be everything I am willing to show you.”

As Seiko watched, Quelaana produced a small, tattered journal from a pouch.

“And there is one other. It is a Pyromancy of Carmina herself. The one who brought this to Blighttown died before we could meet, but I found this journal. It is, no doubt, meant for me, but it is a technique I haven’t dared attempt. Carmina’s Iron Flesh or Flash Sweat are harmless enough, and easy to grasp, but this… It is named ‘Power Within,’ and is written to grant the user incredible strength and stamina, but it also draws on the life-force of the caster as long as it is active. With a warning like that, I have avoided it.”

“If even you won’t touch it, why give it to me?”

Quelaana smiled, her face mostly hidden by her hood.

“Because you, Seiko, have very important things to do, and trials ahead of you I cannot foresee. I fear you will find there are much worse things than death. This technique may be able to save you from such things, perhaps by giving you that one last burst of strength. I have more than enough trump cards to play without one such as this. Perhaps, one day when you are more worldly and wise, I will teach you one or two of them.”

\--

The conversation dissolved into hours of instruction, rather than the days or weeks when Seiko had first arrived. She was able to quickly grasp the idea of things, but with her lack of control she found it hard to master Carmina’s Pyromancies. Salaman had just discovered more efficient ways to use the primal Pyromancies he had learned. It allowed for fireballs twice as large for the energy of a fireball and a half. The efficiency training helped Seiko greatly, but Carmina’s Pyromancies were of a new nature. She had used Pyromancy, and taught others in her ways, to draw on one's inner aspects, rather than the self as a whole. Iron Flesh made use of the stability the caster felt, while Flash Sweat was an adaptable Pyromancy that could come from effort or panic. Immolation was a technique Quelaana had discovered practicing Carmina’s take on Pyromancy, and Seiko was able to grasp only that one particularly well.

Quelaana also taught Seiko Rapport, a Pyromancy that would force her will onto another Undead. It wouldn’t work on another powerful Pyromancer or mage, or anyone who had the mental fortitude for such studies. Even most basic warriors would be able to resist. However, Hollows or those nearly Hollowed would likely succumb immediately. The Pyromancy, as well, would only work on beings whose minds were like hers. Animals or demons, who viewed the world from a completely different perspective, for example, would not be affected at all.

Finally, Quelaana handed Seiko the journal that contained Power Within. Having already had trouble with Carmina’s Pyromancy, Seiko found it hard to be confident about learning or mastering the technique, but she agreed to try it at Quelaana’s instruction.

“I imagine it will be similar to Iron Flesh, as a pull on an aspect of your self. If the journal is correct, you will feel great strength for as long as you are able to channel the Pyromancy, but you will also find that it can drain away your life before you realize you are in danger.”

Seiko readied her flame, pressing it to her chest as Carmina’s other Pyromancies did and, as instructed in the journal, let it flow through her body. What came of it certainly wasn’t Iron Flesh or Flash Sweat. The flame began to heat her body and she felt a rush of energy. The heat was such that, in the humid air of the swamp, even in the sewer chamber where it wasn’t as thick, steam began to rise from Seiko’s armor.

“How do you feel?” asked Quelaana.

“It doesn’t hurt, but I definitely feel hotter. Like it should hurt, but it doesn’t. Or doesn’t yet.”

“How much stronger are you? Try a Pyromancy.”

Seiko tried to form a simple Fireball, but the flame rushed to her hand and exploded faster than she could shape it. Quelaana shielded herself with her robes, backing away. Seiko stepped back as well, trying again. This time she was able to hold the flame and toss it. It struck the wall of the chamber and, true to Chaos Pyromancy, melted the stone of the chamber temporarily.

“I take it that wasn’t meant to be a Chaos Fireball?”

“No,” said Seiko. “And I don’t feel the drain I usually do from using it, either.”

“And if you tried to use Chaos Pyromancy?”

Seiko’s face scrunched in concentration and she tried it, forming the fire as slowly as she could. She threw the Pyromancy, now noticing the drain on her as she would expect from a Chaos Fireball, but the white, dazzling flame that flew from her hand was the first of its kind she had ever managed. This time, more than just a temporary melted patch, the wall of the chamber was melted into, forming a divot. The molten rock that was produced flowed onto the floor and remained.

“White flames… Much more powerful than your usual blue flames, but much more dangerous. Now, is the Pyromancy the only thing it enhances? What about your physical abilities?”

Seiko tried to take a step and found herself flinging her foot up over her own head. She nearly backflipped, but hit the floor with the back of her head first. Not only did she feel very little pain, but she was also able to stay conscious after the failure.

“Oh, my… You would require intensive training to use Power Within properly, but… A Pyromancy that enhances every aspect of the caster… Do you feel alright? Perhaps you should release the technique.”

Seiko didn’t bother getting up to do so. She inhaled, exhaled, and released her grip on the technique… And immediately passed out.

\--

A/N: The Story ~ Mirror ~ by Hiromi Kikuta

Mind the volume.

\--

When she woke, she saw Quelaana sitting beside her, reading the journal containing Power Within.

“Sister…?”

“Ahh, awake and well, I see… It would seem that there is more to Power Within than simply casting it. According to this traveler, Carmina was able to use it almost constantly by altering its intensity based on the moment. They write about not seeing her cast it at all for weeks, but seeing its effects plain as day several times. She never shared the nuances of the spell with whoever wrote the journal, but it appears that Carmina wished any who knew the technique to discover its uses on their own. The only hint she ever gave that is recorded here is that Power Within will affect every Pyromancer differently, as it is meant to exemplify her take on the practice: that Pyromancy is a reflection of the self, and that each fire is as unique as the life that birthed it.”

“I agree with her,” said Seiko.

“Hmm?”

“After all, look at you and I. I have terrible control and a lot of power, and I’ve only gotten stronger since I left… But my control has barely improved at all. I can learn to shape my flame differently-”

“-and twist it as only Eingyi could show you-”

Seiko paused at the interruption, slightly cringing at Quelaana’s disapproving tone.

“-But I can’t seem to cool the flames or heat them up. Chaos Pyromancy is just a different way to draw on the flame, so it’s more powerful without being hotter, and it’s harder to control. Physical Pyromancy is similar, just another way to use the fire, but it isn’t as powerful as Chaos Pyromancy. But then I look at you, my teacher… And you can do it all without seeming to be the least bit tired…”

“My mother was the one who discovered Pyromancy,” said Quelaana, her tone solemn and reluctant, though she continued anyway.

“My Sisters and I drew on Pyromancy, on ourselves, with no fear of what could happen or what it could do to us. Our power, both alone and together, was so great that no army could stand against us. Not that Gwyn or any humans ever tried, but our whirlwinds of flame and waves of heat felled even the mighty dragons and their homes. Make no mistake, if you are willing to give up yourself entirely, I’m sure your Pyromancy could change the world… But just like my mother, it would only be for the worse. When Gwyn approached her, when he asked her to make a new Flame… None of us could have foreseen what would happen… We had never suffered because of our own flames before, after all.”

“I don’t understand that,” said Seiko. “If I unleash a Firestorm, and I push myself, I might be able to fill this chamber with flames and reach very high up with my power, but I would nearly die from it. How can someone have the strength to attempt to imitate the First Flame at all, let alone with the catastrophe it caused…?”

Quelaana smiled, almost painfully, and only responded after a pause.

“That is what made her a Lord, child. The Mother of Pyromancy had no limits. Her Daughters share that trait, and we alone. None of us gave birth, or ever will. When the last of my family passes, there will never be another Pyromancer like us to walk the earth.”

“But you said…”

“When I said you could give yourself to your flame and change the world, I certainly didn’t mean you could create another Flame of Chaos! At most you would simply twist yourself into a demon, and at the very least you would die in the attempt…”

“… I see…”

Quelaana shifted as she sat, and closed the journal as she hadn’t been reading it any further.

“I am very proud to have had you as my pupil. You’ve grown very strong, and you’ve been able to grasp everything I’ve taught you. Surely, you need more practice, and Power Within is something new to even myself, but I have no doubt you will go forth and do great things. I hope you will always strive to do  _ good _ things as well.”

“I’ll do my best to do as you’ve taught me, Sister…”

“I know you will,” said Quelaana, standing to her feet and holding out the journal.

“Now, no matter how urgent your business, I would advise you to remain here and attempt to master Power Within before you leave. You are near a bonfire should you somehow die, and I will not be far away. Simply search for me with your flame as you did before if you absolutely need my help, but otherwise I will see you but once more.”

“Just once? When?!” asked Seiko, sitting up from where she’d been lying.

“If you are to aid the Chosen Undead… I have no doubt you will one day come for my mother’s soul. We will meet again then…”

Quelaana walked out of the chamber, leaving Seiko to think about what she’d been told.

\--

And so she trained. The words of those more learned than she was echoed constantly in her mind. Her time was short but without every possible aid she was sure to fail. She ended up succumbing to Power Within more than once before she finally was able to get a feel for when it would kill her. She then sat by the bonfire and purposefully tested its limits, at both extremes of the technique, as powerful as she could cast it and as lightly as she could. She never discovered how to tone down Power Within once it was cast, but she learned to make it stronger.

Once she had a working knowledge, Seiko hurried back up to the cliffs she’d come from. Previously, she had hugged the canyon wall to avoid a massive dragon corpse. Though it was slumped, nothing dead could grip the edge of a cliff as it did, which led her to be skeptical as to whether it was truly dead. Now she walked boldly up to it, flames ready. Sure enough, when she drew close it swept its head across the ground roaring and rearing up.

It didn’t end up as much of a fight. The undead dragon was too slow to catch Seiko off guard, and as soon as Seiko attempted Power Within it only got worse. She jumped, a meter and a half higher than usual, and threw two Fireballs at it. Power Within amplified them to Chaos flames and the dragon’s head melted under the heat. Its claws dragged over the dirt as it fell from the cliff, not hitting the ground for a few seconds. Its soul traveled to Seiko and she released Power Within. Only having jumped and thrown Fireballs, she was still out of breath upon releasing it. In the clear air of the canyon there hadn’t been any steam from her armor as it heated up, but releasing the technique left her boiling hot, even painfully so.

\--

After a drink of Estus, Seiko continued along the canyon wall until she found the elevator Ingward had told her about. At the top, Seiko found herself in a mossy cave with another bonfire. It was unlit, so she fixed that before moving up and out. The moment her boots scraped on bare stone just outside the cave, she heard a heavy footstep to her right. She glanced, seeing only a black streak before being cleaved in two by something and dying.

When she revived, and reversed her Hollowing, holding plenty of Humanity for the moment, Seiko continued with more caution. She approached the mouth of the cave, watching her step, and peeked around the corner. Facing away from her was a figure clad in black Silver Knight armor and a black Silver Knight shield. Rather than a spear, as she’d seen them hold before, this one held a black halberd. Unlike last time, it hadn’t noticed her yet. Seiko recovered her lost souls and decided to try Iron Flesh. She cast it, took a heavy step, and the knight turned instantly to swipe at her. She caught the swing, hand on the blade, yanked the knight closer to her, and grabbed the knight instead. She lifted it bodily over her head and threw it over the cliff immediately to the left, where it fell into the obscuring mist.

Releasing Iron Flesh, Seiko inspected her hand. There was a sizable cut in her gauntlet, but her flesh beneath had barely parted at all. She wasn’t even bleeding, after having been cut down in one strike previously.

Traveling up the side of the cliff, Seiko moved more and more into a dense forest. In the distance, she saw something big glittering and moving. Out of curiosity, she moved in that direction. The figures turned out to be large golems made of some kind of crystal, and they attacked upon spotting Seiko despite having no discernable eyes or face. Seiko hurled a Fireball at the first one before it could get close, but it charged right through the attack, completely unaffected. It swung at her, arm growing into a long, spiked club. Seiko ducked the blow, but took notice that the golem was able to smash through the trunk of the tree next to her. She jumped back to avoid the falling tree, but was pursued by the golem.

The golem was fast once it readied a swing, but its wind-up made avoiding its attacks easy enough. Another two or three attacks and Seiko ducked under a swing and stepped in, twisting her hips and throwing a corkscrew punch into the golem’s chest. Blue dust exploded out behind the golem as the blunt force tore through its body, and the entire golem began to destabilize. Seiko straightened out and threw a few more punches, higher and lower, and the golem fell into a heap of crystal dust at her feet.

Heavy footsteps betrayed the next golem, rushing at her from her left, further down the slight incline she found herself on, with the highest point being the lip of a cliff. It wasn’t alone, but it was close enough and already swinging, so it caught Seiko as she turned. The crystal spikes didn’t pierce her armor, but the spiked club arm of the golem sent her crashing to the dirt several meters away. Fire wouldn’t work, so Seiko decided to try Carmina’s Pyromancies again. Seiko defaulted to the easier Iron Flesh, waiting for the golem to strike again, dodging, casting, and punching the golem just like the last. As it collapsed, the next was already swinging. Seiko threw up a block with her left arm, letting the club-arm attack be deflected as if she were using a shield.

\--

Seiko was able to dispatch the golems with relative ease thanks to Iron Flesh. There was now the option of continuing deeper into the forest toward the lake she could see in the distance, or back up the incline to the tower hidden by the trees that was built into the cliff face. Assuming Artorias’ grave would be a grand and ornate sight, Seiko headed for the tower. She opened the door, looking around, and spotted someone standing across the entry chamber from her. The only thing in the tower was the figure, some torches on the walls, and stairs that led up.

“Hello?” said Seiko, stepping in.

The figure stepped forward, letting out a horrifying groan and swinging a dragon’s massive tooth by the tip, which was sculpted into a handle. Seiko dove aside and recovered, keeping her eyes on her attacker. A flick of her eyes to the tooth saw that the root had smashed a pothole into the stone floor. Who or whatever this heavily armored thing was, it was unbelievably strong. The dragon’s tooth it was swinging was just as big as Seiko, either stained or naturally black, and harder than the stone it had come in contact with. The figure hefted the tooth, leveling a shield that appeared to be monolithic. It even wore armor that looked like stone.

Seiko was able to dodge easily enough, but began to worry when both her fists and her flames seemed little more than inconvenience to her foe. She couldn’t send it flying with a punch, couldn’t stay close long enough to grab and pick it up, and it seemed to completely ignore any Pyromancy she tried. She didn’t want to use Power Within and Chaos Pyromancy, as both could force her to limp all the way back to the bonfire, if they even worked at all. She did, however, have two more techniques to try. After an overhead strike from the figure, Seiko jumped away. While the enemy readied the tooth again, Seiko inhaled and cast Toxic Mist, filling the bottom of the tower with the noxious gas.

Whatever it was, the figure was mortal after all, as it coughed loudly and cringed in pain from the mist’s effect. Seiko, as the caster, was unphased. She rushed forward, stopping suddenly before the knight to bait a swing. Sure enough, the tooth came crashing down, but Seiko wasn’t there. She had stepped behind her enemy, hand pulled back, fingers rigid and lit with blue flame. Her fingers dug into the knight’s back, heating up and melting right through the stone armor. Seiko forced her flame into what she could now tell was an unusually burly Hollow and jumped away. The stone-clad Hollow fell to its knees, shaking, until fire jetted from its full helm and the hole in its back.

Seiko expected that to be it, but the Hollow braced itself on the ground with the bottom of its shield and tried to stand, leaving the tooth on the floor. The toxic mist was clearing, but the damage had been done. Seiko stayed back, knowing her enemy couldn’t swing at her anymore, and stood by to watch as it reached for her. Its outstretched hand was tense, slowly closing into a fist as if to crush the image of her in its hand. Its fist shook, either in pain or rage, and it suddenly went limp, crashing to the floor dead.

Looking her fallen enemy over, she could see a ring bulging under its black gloves. She removed its bracer and glove to see a ring with a spherical stone fitted into the center, surrounded by smaller gemstones. After taking off her own gauntlet and putting it on, Seiko could feel the weight of her armor lift almost completely. The ring was too large to fit under the Silver Knight gauntlet she wore, however, so she placed it in a pouch on her belt next to her Estus Flask. She debated taking the fallen knight’s bracers and gloves instead and simply using the ring, but instead she replaced its bracer and sat the body against the wall, pinning its shield between it and the wall and laying the dragon tooth over its lap.

\--

Exploring above the chamber, Seiko found herself back in the Undead Burg, which wasn’t where she needed to be at all. She turned back, heading into the forest toward the lake she’d seen. For once in the past few hours, things were peaceful, even serene. A waterfall flowed down the left face of the canyon Seiko found herself in, and a massive lake blocked her way forward unless she felt like trying to swim in armor, on top of not being too fond of water as it was. Next to the waterfall was a ladder, just beyond the water. In order to approach the ladder, Seiko at least had to go ankle deep into the lake.

The moment her foot hit the water, the entire lake began to ripple from the center. Seiko had a brief second to wonder if there was something in the water before a huge creature broke the surface. A hydra, with many serpentine heads stemming from the body of a giant turtle, surfaced, spotted her, and roared at her with every mouth it had.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this one's long. Written on Memorial Day, 2016, while work was dead. Got lost in the craft.

**-Darkroot Basin-**

\--

A/N: The Souls of Chaos, a remix by Roetaka of OCRemix

… Who I realized is Alex Roe, composer of Indomitable Souls. I found the two accounts separately, and completely by accident… 

\--

Seiko weaved a Fire Surge with both hands just before the first shot of water reached her. The water flash-boiled, spraying the grass at her feet with scalding drops and filling the air with a light mist. The hydra that had spat the water then took a swipe at Seiko with one of its heads, which she jumped over, flipping to the side and landing a few feet away, still facing the main body. Another head shot straight at her, so she jumped over it, landed on it, and slammed her palm down on the neck. She never broke line-of-sight with the main body, even through the blue embers her hand had left in the air. A split second later the head she was standing on pulled back, flame ripping through the neck and nearly severing the head before it fully retracted.

Seiko landed off balance from the head pulling away under her feet, but her hands were up, alight with her Pyromancy. The hydra roared and squirmed in pain, its blood staining the water. All the heads together spat water at her, held together in impossibly smooth bullets. Seiko did a back hand-spring, tossing two fireballs when she landed. The flames guttered out in mid air long before striking her target. She had to wait for it to commit to an attack before she could hurt it, while it was free to attack from a distance.

Seiko sprinted forward, under the next volley of water bullets, rushing into the shallow water. She cast Iron Flesh, banking on the hydra trying to attack her again. Sure enough, every single head reared back and struck together, flailing at the shore with mouths open. Seiko managed to catch one and strike her flame into it, blowing off another head. She stood her ground as the heads retreated and the monster howled in pain again.

_ Quelaana can use Firestorm so accurately from so far away… That would be really effective right about now… _

The obvious option to turn the tide was Power Within, but Seiko had no idea how much further she’d have to go after killing the hydra, or what lie up ahead. She lacked the confidence in the technique to use it, even against such a massive enemy, until she had no other choice.

Seiko jumped over another strike, backing away to bait the water bullets again.

_ I could try riding one of its heads as it pulled back… If I could get my hands on the main body I could kill it!… But I can’t swim at all, let alone in my armor… _

Seiko dodged the volley she’d baited, but stayed back to think and buy time.

_ What I need is a Pyromancy with distance… Mist wouldn’t work; the heads would have to stay in it for too long and it would just get blown away…  _

After dodging another volley only barely and getting knocked to the grass, Seiko had an idea as she recovered. She ran under the next round of bullets, both hands focusing her flame in a ball. She cast the fireball straight out rather than throwing it this time, the force of which pushed her back over the damp grass. The fireball flew true, striking the giant turtle-like body right where the heads extended from it. 

The hydra shook its heads in pain, roaring before striking with its heads one after another. Seiko dodged and dodged, and dodged again, but eventually one of the heads struck her before she could move aside. She had jumped, so rather than being swallowed, she was struck center mass by the snout and sent flying back into a tree. She hit the ground with the wind knocked out of her. Seiko flailed a Fire Whip with her right hand, reaching for her Estus with her left and drinking as she stood and started to run away again.

She repeated the fire bullet she’d used a few more times, but she was giving up too much power for enough range to hit her target. It wouldn’t kill the hydra before the hydra could get lucky and kill her. She managed to catch another head and sever it with her technique of forcing her flame into it, but the fight was dragging on and not in her favor. If she ran, where would she go? Her goal was up the ladder, but running for the ladder would be suicide if she couldn’t make it to the top before getting snatched off of it.

Finally, Seiko tried the only option she figured she had left before Power Within: riding a head to the main body. She rushed into the water again, this time without using Iron Flesh. A head struck, she jumped, and grabbed one of the ridges on its head, holding on for dear life. The head whipped back, nearly flinging her off. Seiko pushed off the head and flew through the air to land on the top of the turtle shell.

Seiko knelt, shoving both hands into the shell, burning through it and implanting her flame. She stood ran to the edge of the shell, took a breath and prayed she’d make it, cast Power Within, and jumped for shore. Her flame erupted from the two small holes in the shell she’d made as she jumped incredibly high, and her stomach flipped from the sense of weightlessness as she reached the peak of her arc. She saw as she fell that she wouldn’t reach the shore… Until she was smacked into by a flailing head of the hydra. She grabbed on, gauntlets latching to the thin scales of the head, and rode the head as it slammed down on the shore.

The main body began to sink back into the lake, dragging the head she was holding down with it. The pain numbed by Power Within, Seiko managed to stand, a scale coming free in her hand as the head slipped back into the depths. Steam rose from the surrounding water until Seiko released Power Within. Even just a few seconds had her suddenly gasping for breath, unable to even think about anything but more air.

\--

At some point she must have passed out, because Seiko came to an indeterminate amount of time later lying on the shore. She felt sick, but a drink of Estus helped considerably. There was only enough left for if she needed it once more, but her way was clear for the moment. Seiko sat up, finding that she still held the hydra’s scale in her right hand. She put it in a pouch on her belt as a trophy of sorts and stood, wobbling at first, to her feet. She noticed her hair was still wet inside her armor and hood, so she removed her hood and let out her hair for the first time in ages. It blended in with the gold-hemmed robes bunched about her shoulders, but her face was more visible. Her strangely glowing blue eyes were also more visible from her left and right as well.

She approached the ladder, growing a bit more steady on her feet as she fully woke up, and climbed all the way to the top. She followed the path away from the rushing water, up into the thick, dark forest.

**-Darkroot Garden-**

Seiko found herself alone in the wood, things oddly silent, without even the chirping of birds. She walked quietly through a clearing, hearing the heavy breathing of several large creatures sleeping. As she wandered further, she saw small figures shuffling around a pond. They were mushrooms, walking on stumpy legs, circling a pond where two much larger mushrooms stood guard over a chest. Seiko looked around, seeing a bridge and a large, glowing door to the right and a brick structure to the left. She decided to head to the left first.

A few minutes later, after reaching the steps up to the structure, Seiko spotted a very fat cat sitting in a window before the exit.

“Finally stumbled upon this place, has the babe, I see.”

Seiko looked around for where the voice had come from, hands up and aflame despite her exhaustion.

“Fret not, child. Hast thou forgotten me?”

The second time it spoke, Seiko realized it was the cat she’d seen. She straightened from her battle stance and dropped her hands.

“Forgotten you? I probably did… I nearly Hollowed in the Asylum. Who are- or… Who were you to me?”

“Nearly Hollowed? T’is quite the shame. I am Alvina of the Darkroot Wood. If forgotten is thine old self, what could bring thee here?”

“I was told by Gwynevere to face the Four Kings of New Londo, who live within the Abyss. Ingward, the sealer, instructed me to come here, to see if I could find any help from Sir Artorias to fulfill my task.”

“Hmph. Artorias art not but a simple fabrication. Thine effo-”

“Don’t you lie to me. Ingward looked into my memories. Artorias was my father. He’s no fake.”

“Oh! Did he now? Looked into thy past, he said? Therein lies the truest fabrication of all! Such magic, too, is but a myth.”

“Wh-… But… I saw flashes of my past myself as he did it!”

“Did’st thee now? And had thee consider’d that magic oft’n finds use as elaborate illusions? Could not this Ingward have-”

A spark of Combustion went off, barely avoiding scorching Alvina.

“I may have left my past behind,” said Seiko, tone level, “But if you dare lie to me so plainly, I have no remorse in killing you. I’ll have no mind games. You gave yourself away simply by implying you knew me the moment I approached.”

Alvina remained silent a moment.

“Will you help me find his grave or not?”

“My advice true, fallen child, abandon the endeavor. Traversing the dark, too, is but a fairy tale. A twisting of a story long since lost. Do as is thy desire, but take heed… That my Forest Hunters will not be idle in thy presence. A powerful ally thy could have made. A pity.”

“Hmph.”

\--

A/N: Monks from Chaos Legion (Hideyuki Fukasawa)

\--

Seiko turned to continue forward. There was an ornate door up some stairs further ahead. If that wasn’t Artorias’ grave, this far into the wood, Seiko would have to turn back and search the other direction. As she came over a small knoll, she spotted and was spotted by a man in worn leather wielding an axe. A quick call-out from him and a cleric emerged from the treeline up ahead as well. Seiko guessed this was what Alvina meant by Forest Hunters.

Magically exhausted from her extensive use of Pyromancy earlier, Seiko had to rely strictly on her fists and feet. The cleric stayed back while the bandit charged, his axe held high. Seiko waited, readied her arms in a guard, and smacked the axe aside with the back of her left hand, firing a punch straight into the bandit’s chest in the next instant. Ribs broke and the man flew back, tumbling through the grass. Seiko approached with caution, hearing the cleric reciting something rapidly with no way to know what would happen.

There was a rush of white light and the bandit jumped to his feet. The cleric had healed him, Seiko realized. The bandit approached with more caution this time, striking with his shield first this time to try and stun Seiko. She jumped right over him, flipping to keep her trajectory low, and sprinted for the cleric. He put up a shield of his own and reached for a mace on his belt. Seiko grabbed the lip of the shield with her right hand, yanked the cleric forward off balance, and punched him in the chin with an uppercut with her left. His head snapped back and he was dead before he hit the floor.

Seiko turned to see the bandit already swinging his axe at her. She hopped back, barely letting the axe scrape over her chestplate. The man swung his axe again, then lead with his shield to get as close as he could. He flicked a foot forward to push Seiko off balance, moving her right foot with his left. She stumbled, caught herself before she could hit the dirt, and threw herself to the side, rolling. The bandit’s axe thumped to the ground where she’d been a second earlier as she jumped to her feet. She took her stance again, guard up.

This time, the bandit slung his shield onto his back and approached with his axe in both hands, swinging horizontally, thinking to force Seiko closer to the nearby cliff. Seiko ducked the slash and punched the bandit in the stomach, then slipped past him. The bandit fell to his knees, dropping his axe and clutching his stomach. Seiko kicked him, sending him sailing over the same cliff he’d tried to push her over.

Seiko turned to run for the door she’d seen, then suddenly had to try and slide to a stop on the grass as a spell flew at her. She failed, slipping onto her back, still avoiding the spell, but having to waste time recovering. As soon as she was up, Seiko found herself having to jump dangerously close to the cliff as a barely-visible knife passed centimeters from her ribs. A mage and a thief this time.

Seiko’s stomach threatened to rebel as she summoned her flame, snapping out Combustion as the thief closed in again. He was caught in the blast of flame, stumbling back and flailing. Seiko had to jump past him to avoid another spell from the mage, so she spun and grabbed the thief to use him as a human shield, charging the mage. When she got close enough, she threw the thief at the mage, knocking them both down. She bent close and used Combustion again, burning both of them to death.

There happened to be nothing up the stairs but paths that led further into the forest. Seiko, exhausted entirely from her trek, approached a nearby collapsed wall. She sat down, tried to lean against it, and smacked her head on the ground after phasing through it. She recoiled, holding the back of her head, getting up to look at the wall. She looked around, thinking someone had tricked her or cast an illusion. She stepped forward, reaching out to touch the wall. Her hand went through it, so she stepped through. Beyond the wall was a bonfire just on the edge of a cliff.

\--

After performing soul infusion and taking a rest, Seiko ventured back the way she’d come. She started walking back to where Alvina had been when she heard footsteps on the grass behind her. She spun and jumped back, spotting a knight that was nearly transparent, like the thief had been before. More Forest Hunters, she assumed. The knight was skilled, leading with his shield and keeping his distance. Seiko was fresh for a fight this time, but held back her Pyromancy, thinking she could deal with the knight without it. An arrow struck her in the back of her right shoulder immediately after the thought, causing her to stumble. The knight stepped in at that moment and ran her through on his claymore, twisting the sword and kicking her off of it. Seiko reached weakly for her Estus, but died when the knight split her head in two.

Seiko replaced her hood when she revived, shifting her armor to hide her hair again. She stayed Hollow, intent to stay that way until she found the archer. She went back into the wood, down the stone steps, and kept a lookout for the knight. This time the arrow came first, hitting her square in the chest. She at least knew the direction now, good enough. 

Again, Seiko stumbled from the force, hearing rushing footsteps again. She recovered and spun, assuming the knight was behind her. She had completely missed him being in front of her, and was cut down, shoulder to hip, by the knight from behind.

The third time, Seiko reversed her Hollowing. She tried again, hugged the right wall, keeping low and listening. Even knowing the general direction, she was hit by an arrow from between the trees, stumbled, but this time didn’t hear the knight. She fought through the pain and ran for the trees, taking cover. Her arm was barely sticking out and she took another arrow, right through the middle of her forearm. Her hand went limp from the tendons being cut and she pulled the arm in, adjusting where she thought the archer was.

From then on, Seiko wasn’t hit. She moved from tree to tree, closer and closer to the archer, always listening for the knight. Just when she was about to rush out from behind a tree and attack, the archer made a break for it, quiet footsteps in the grass giving them away. Seiko bolted after them, ripping the arrow out of her shoulder and arm, then drinking Estus. She could barely see a figure running ahead of her toward the cliff with a strange hat and leather armor. Seiko stopped chasing, focusing a long-range fireball like the one she’d used against the hydra, thinking the archer would stop near the cliff to bait her. But instead the archer kept running and jumped. 

Seiko was shocked, so she ran over to see what had become of the archer. There was a ravine with the rapids of the waterfall at the bottom, but here the ravine was just barely close enough to jump across. The archer was out of sight, but Seiko heard footsteps coming up behind her. She jumped, flipping back without looking, and landed behind the camouflaged knight as he thrust his shield forward to push her off the edge. Seiko side-stepped in and kicked with all the muscles in her leg and back, booting the knight clear over the ravine and down to the other side, where the archer must have landed.

The knight crashed to the dirt, stunned from the fall. Seiko landed just ahead of him, picked him up about the shoulders, and dunked him into the river rapids full-force. An arrow slammed into her leg, definitely at close range, tearing clean through and hitting the water. Seiko hit the dirt on her knees and cast Firestorm to cover herself. The bright blue flames shielded her from sight long enough for her to drink Estus and focus a fireball. The archer fired blindly into the flames just as they died out, their first miss. Seiko shot her fireball at where the arrow had come from and landed a glancing blow at last.

Right away, before the flames completely faded from the impact, the archer was running. Seiko, nearly in a blind rage at that point, sprinted after the archer. She was much faster than her target, catching up in seconds. Seiko swept her arms down and forward, knocking the archer’s legs out from under them. She snatched the bow from the archer, breaking it over her knee and stomping on the archer’s left knee to break that as well. Now Seiko could see her target was a woman, her face nearly one with the grass and dirt beneath her, even this close.

“I  _ hate _ fighters like you who won’t stand their ground! You  _ knew  _ I’d catch you! Why run?! Draw a dagger, throw a punch,  _ something! _ ” she shouted, overcome with frustration.

She couldn’t tell if the archer was even listening, howling in pain and cradling their broken leg.

“... I don’t care what you do, just do it next time you get in a fight,” said Seiko, lowering her voice.

She picked up the archer and threw them into the river as well, fully aware that she was irrationally angry over the whole thing. That archer had cost her two deaths! A waste of time!

\--

Just enough Estus to cover another major setback, Seiko was on her way back to the bonfire. She had passed by where Alvina had been and found the cat missing. As she was crossing the path between the brick building and the stone steps that led to the door to the bonfire, Seiko was overcome with a sense of dread. It was unlike anything she’d felt before, and there was no reason for it whatsoever. Still, her first thought was of Tetsuro, and his warning about Darkwraiths. She looked around, stopping amidst the trees. The door to the bonfire clouded over with thick mist, and the forest remained eerily quiet.

“To think that you, of all people, would be my quarry,” came a voice from behind her.

Seiko turned to see a dark blue phantom standing in the doorway of the brick building. He wore lacquered armor and a full helm. Seiko recognized his large sword and shield as Tetsuro’s Murakumo and Iron Round shield. He must have also fought this enemy.

“You’re no Darkwraith, are you? Who are you?”

“I am Shiva, of the East. And you, young Undead, have become a trespasser here. On the site of your own father’s grave.”

“You knew me? That would have saved me some time…”

“I’ve heard all about you by now. Failed in your task and nearly Hollowed out there, only to come crawling back.”

“I’m not that person anymore. But I guess I don’t need to tell you that. My name is Seiko now.”

“‘Holy Child’? No, probably ‘Blue Child’ with those eyes of yours. Taken, I presume?”

“Given, actually.”

“Interesting. But no matter your name or history, it is the duty of we hunters to bring down any trespasser in this forest. You’d have been better off just letting the sleeping dog lie.”

“So Sif  _ is _ here. The sealer was right.”

Shiva was quiet a moment. “Not without some wit, I see. Good. Perhaps you’ll make for an interesting fight after all. You appear to have lost your old gear somewhere along the way, so I was worried.”

“You seem awfully polite and ready to reminisce for having threatened my life.”

“You misunderstand, Seiko. It is not personal to say you are my prey. It is simple duty, nothing more. Would you rather I do away with respect and honor and stab you in the back? I much prefer a fair fight.”

_ I see why Tetsuro wanted to duel you now, at least… _

“Sorry,” said Seiko. “I appreciate the gesture, then.”

She brought up her fists, still hiding her Pyromancy.

“Come this far with your fists alone? Now you’ve really built up my expectations. Don’t disappoint me.”

Shiva began approaching, but Seiko could hear footsteps behind her as well, equally far away. She didn’t react to the sound at all, keeping her eyes on Shiva. The footsteps behind her stopped as Shiva broke into a run, hefting his Murakumo.

\--

A/N: Pledge from Chaos Legion (Hideyuki Fukasawa)

\--

Seiko dodged the first slash, slipping past Shiva to put him between her and the footsteps. She could see Shiva’s almond-shaped eyes in his helm, proving his Eastern heritage. Shiva stepped in, swinging overhead, bashing with his shield, then swinging horizontally. Seiko sidestepped the first, had to block the second, and purposefully fell back to avoid the third. She kicked at one of Shiva’s legs as he stepped in to capitalize on her position, then punched him near his left shoulder. Her fist passed through him, blowing mist out of his back instead. She’d forgotten that phantoms weren’t fully corporeal. She sat up, going right through Shiva, and jumped away, back even closer to where Alvina had been.

Shiva recovered, rolling his shoulder.

“That would have ended the fight if I were in my own body. You certainly have a strange and defensive style. Or is it simple inexperience?”

He didn’t wait for her to respond, running forward and slashing diagonally from his right to left, at Seiko’s left shoulder. Seiko swayed under the slash, throwing another punch. Her punch met Shiva’s shield. Mist wafted from the shield, but the shield was unharmed. Shiva shoved his shield forward pushing Seiko back, then he stepped in and hooked a foot behind her ankle. Seiko fell onto her back and Murakumo stabbed through her stomach. She cringed in pain, grabbing the blade.

“Nice try,” said Shiva, “but you won’t be able to shatter my equipment as long as I’m a phantom. Not without some magic.”

“I’ll k- keep that… In mind.” Seiko’s eyebrow twitched, either in pain or anger at Shiva’s attitude. She coughed blood.

“Good. Perhaps such a technique will serve you well someday. But today-”

Shiva twisted Murakumo and yanked it free.

“Today, you are denied passage.”

He aimed to stab Murakumo through Seiko’s head, his shield off to the side.

Seiko’s hand shot forward and she snapped out Great Combustion, then blasted Fire Surge before she could even see if she’d hit Shiva to cover her last drink of Estus.

Shiva stumbled back to get out of range of her flames, looking at himself as he faded considerably. He saw Seiko stand up, unharmed, and replace her flask on her belt.

“Not without your own tricks and trump cards, I see. Good.”

“You’re still confident you can win?”

“You’re not the only one with tricks, young Undead.”

Shiva circled to Seiko’s left, putting her between himself and the cliff. Seiko could hear rushing footsteps to her right. She smiled, waited, then jumped clear over Shiva just as some figure slashed at her with a thin, curved sword. She landed behind Shiva, close to the treeline. A man in all black, nearly transparent like several of the other Forest Hunters, stood next to where she’d been, holding a katana.

“I know,” said Seiko.

Shiva growled in frustration, stepping forward again, shield up.

“Two on one? I thought you wanted a fair fight.”

“It  _ is _ a fair fight,” said Shiva. “You have Pyromancy, and I do not. So I extend my influence through my shadow.”

“So if I hadn’t used Pyromancy, even if it meant your failure, he wouldn’t have stepped in?”

Shiva didn’t answer.

“Hmph. And now I see why Tetsuro beat you.”

Seiko put up her hands, flames alight.

“I’ve never fought anyone-” Shiva hopped forward and slashed horizontally, “-by that  _ name _ .”

He put odd emphasis in his words where he slashed a second time, spinning to add power. Seiko ducked the first slash and redirected the second, but had to jump to the side to avoid being stabbed in the ribs by the man in black.

“Not in this world. But that’s not important, I guess. Not to you.”

Seiko made no move to attack, waiting on the tag team to make the first move.

The man in black stepped away, vanishing into the shadows of the trees. Shiva shuffled forward a bit, keeping his balance while readying another attack.

Seiko sighed, her anger over his attitude turning to pity. He was just as overdramatic as she’d been just a few minutes ago. Shiva slashed at her, but she jumped away.

“I’ve changed my mind,” she said, raising her voice since she was further away. “I guess there are times where not standing your ground is a good idea. It’s your duty to hunt me, right? So I’ll be good prey and ignore you and run for my objective. Good luck catching me.”

She turned to sprint away. Less than two seconds went by and she noticed the man in black running side by side with her, through the forest. Living trees burst from the ground behind her, sensing her running about. Seiko and the man in black burst from the treeline on the other side of the wood, heading for the cliff down to Darkwood Basin. More living trees appeared, all following Seiko and ignoring Shiva and his “shadow.”

Shiva wasn’t far behind, slowing his run as he left the trees.

“And just like that, you are caught. So much talk for so little chase. How disappointing.”

Seiko dodged a slash from the shadow, sidestepped closer to Shiva and the crowd of trees, then flipped over them, just outside the treeline. She cast Fire Whip with both hands, sweeping from her left and right to straight ahead, bringing the whips together into a swirl of blue flame. Shiva presented his shield, but the crowd of trees burned up right away. As soon as Seiko released the flame, Shiva’s partner flipped over him and slashed at Seiko. Seiko stepped back, earning a rent in her armor and a thin cut from her collarbone to her hip, then stepped in and punched the man in the sternum.

Every rib the man had crunched loudly under her fist, and he flew back into Shiva, through his phantom, and landed on the ground, motionless. Shiva, angered by her injuring his partner,  charged Seiko. He put his shield on his back and manipulated his Murakumo with both hands, using sweeping slashes with strange spins of his blade to redirect the force. Seiko tried to avoid stepping back into the trees, hopping to the side, diving into a roll, and ending up with the wood to her left and Shiva before her.

“You’re quick, and powerful. You don’t deserve all that strength. You didn’t work for it. Born with privileged blood, and frustratingly ignorant of it as ever.”

Seiko clenched her left fist, flexing that arm.

“You don’t know the new me. I wasn’t this strong when I left the Asylum. Stronger than normal, certainly, but now I’m stronger still. And I have better control. Maybe I don’t deserve what I was born with, but I can’t control that. Rather than complain about things none of us can change, why don’t you put your skill and experience to work and try to kill me?”

Shiva spat, out a gap in his helmet, on the grass.

“I don’t need advice from a whelp like you. Your attitude will be your undoing.”

“As will-” Seiko cut off to shout in pain. The man in black must have had Estus himself, because his sword was sticking out of her chest. She reached up, as if to grab the blade, but instead pushed her flame into her body to use Power Within. If she was going to die anyway, they weren’t getting away. Now she grabbed the blade.

“-Yours!”

She spun, flinging the man in black away, keeping the sword in her chest. She hurled a Chaos Fireball at Shiva, the flames white hot and blinding from her use of Power Within. Shiva’s phantom wavered even though he dodged, the heat was so intense. Another, more basic Fireball struck as he came out of his dodge, blasting him into mist. Seiko spun to face Shiva’s partner, getting hit with a throwing knife right in the gap in her armor formed by his slash earlier. She ignored it, sweeping Fire Surge at him with her right hand to move him, then pitching a Chaos Fireball at him when he tried to jump over it. His corpse hit the grass next to her, nearly a skeleton from the heat of her flames.

\--

After releasing Power Within, Seiko died on the spot, fading away. She reversed her Hollowing, down to four Humanity, and tried once more to enter the forest and track down Artorias’ grave. This time, she was sure it had to be in the other direction, the glowing door she’d seen. Shiva had confirmed what the sealer had told her, and her own suspicions. She ventured once more into the humid forest, sure of her goal.


	18. Chapter 18

**-Darkroot Garden-**

Seiko approached the bridge that lead to the glowing door. Looking down she could see the river that ran through the wood and over the falls, into the lake in the basin. Looking back, most of the way she’d come was hidden by fog from the humid forest. She felt the dread that came with another invader creep in as she crossed the bridge, but pressed forward and hoped they would appear far enough away to miss her opening the door. As she approached, the two stone doors lost their glow and swung open. Inside was a circular clearing with stone walls too steep to walk up surrounding it. There was a ring of flowing water near the outer wall, ankle deep, and the ground rose higher as it neared the center of the clearing. At the center was a massive headstone, a sword just as large stabbed into the ground before it, and a small necklace hanging from the guard of the sword.

Seiko walked into the clearing, looking around. She felt the cloud of an impending threat from her invader lift, but not the unease she felt from the grave itself. Surely this had to be the place she was looking for, but unless she was inclined to dig up the man who was supposed to be her father, she doubted there was anything here for her. After all, the closer she got the more apparent it was that there was no box or note or journal awaiting for whoever might decide to-

“Sif?!”

A wolf whose shoulder nearly came up to the headstone jumped over it to defend it from her. The headstone, already as tall as a house, poked up behind him as he eyed Seiko, growling menacingly.

“You’re… A lot bigger than I thought you’d be… Did you know me? Do you remember me?”

Sif kept his fangs bared, standing between her and the headstone.

“Please… I don’t want to fight you… You don’t deserve to have me, an Undead, fight you over and over until you lose. I don’t want to do that. But I need my father’s help.”

No change.

“Please?”

At least he wasn’t attacking.

Seiko sighed. She sat down, trying to seem unthreatening, and undid her hood. She threaded her hair out of her armor to rest over the bunched robes around her shoulders, stifled by the humid air. The only thing she could think to try was Rapport, but that was only supposed to work on weak-minded humanoid enemies. Then again, what if it still carried her will and thoughts even if it failed? Seiko took a focused breath, reaching up with her left hand and touching her temple with her index finger.

Apparently, Sif could tell she was doing something supernatural, because he tensed and growled anew. Seiko tried to ignore his threats, eyes closed, keeping her thoughts focused before attempting the technique.

_ Let me pass. Don’t fight me. He was my father. You’re too loyal to attack for me. Please. _

Like a mantra, over and over and over, she repeated only that to herself until it was all she could think about. No dark and shadowed woods or cleared mound or snarling enemy. Only that phrase, herself, and a loyal warrior. Without opening her eyes she pointed toward where she knew Sif was, casting Rapport. She opened her eyes.

No change.

Seiko deflated. She was barely through the door and it was as close as she could get without being hostile. She hummed in frustration and stood suddenly. Sif stepped in and snapped at her to back her up, but she didn’t move and his jaws came up short. Either because he expected her to jump back, or he missed, she wasn’t sure, but he had to be old enough that missing was off the table.

“I’m not leaving, Sif. I can’t do anything else substantial without help. And this is the only place I can find help. Don’t make me fight, you Sif.”

He snapped again. This time, Seiko could see he would actually bite her, so she moved aside rather than backwards, but she made no move to go further toward the grave. Sif hopped back a bit, facing her.

“You don’t look like you want to fight me, either. If you did, you would have already chased me down. I’m not an old salt like you, but I’m not blind, either.”

Another snarl, a shift in stance.

“Please. I’m not going to ask again. Just let me pass.”

She started walking forward, arms out to her sides, hands open. If he killed her for it, she’d return Hollow and use Pyromancy, she decided. She was halfway through another thought when Sif pounced on her, pinning her to the grass with one giant paw. He snarled right in her face, blowing hot breath and slobber all over her. Seiko closed her eyes, cringing in disgust, but didn’t attack. Sif sniffed at her and suddenly stepped away, whining once, softly.

“Sif?”

He was suddenly restless, pacing left and right, but staying between her and the grave. He kept looking from her to the grave and back. Seiko stood and waited, wiping herself off. She waited, staying still. Sif seemed like he could go either way at any second, extremely distressed. The moment dragged out and Seiko waited every second for Sif to suddenly attack her. Her worry was lifted when Sif walked over to the open door, sat in the way of it, howled, and thundered to the ground, blocking the way in and out. Seiko looked at him for a moment, waiting to see if he would do anything else.

With caution, she approached the grave. Sif didn’t move to stop her, so she tried to pay him no mind and have a look around first. The only thing she could see that seemed to be out of place was the necklace hanging from the giant sword. The sword itself was large enough that she could jump up and stand balanced on the guard. She bent, taking the necklace from the guard and inspecting the ring on it. The chain was simple iron, or something similarly colored, and the ring itself was gold with a small polished sphere embedded in it. 

Seiko brought the ring to eye level, looking at the sphere. Whatever it was, it was so dark that looking at it seemed more like looking into the night sky or a deep cavern. No matter how she turned it in the dim moonlight, there was no shine to it at all. It was a very thin ring, as well, something that would not only fit under her Silver Knight gauntlet, but it also seemed as if she could easily break it. Tempted as she was to touch the gem in the ring, she had an awful feeling about it, and decided against it.

Seiko jumped down and looked around in front of the grave a bit, but there was no hint of anything buried nearby. Further, she didn’t think Sif would tolerate her trying to dig anything up; he might think Seiko was trying to defile Artorias’ grave, something she’d like to avoid.

_ I hope this is what I need…  _

She walked over to Sif, attempting to leave.

“Thank you… I guess you did know me, you just didn’t recognize me after so long. I understand. Memories are… Fleeting things.”

She reached out to touch him, but Sif stood up and moved out of her way. He walked over in front of the grave again and sat down to watch her. Seiko sighed and looked back at him before leaving. She never found Ciaran curled in death behind the grave...

\--

**-Valley of Drakes-**

Seiko was crossing the bridge back to New Londo when two drakes flew over and tried to snatch her off the bridge. She dove under their talons, scrambling to her feet and running for the cavern. The drakes banked, aiming to attack her again until they saw her run into the cavern. The influence of the Abyss was clear, making the cavern darker than it should have been with the overcast sunrise outside. The drakes pulled up, refusing to go in. As Seiko watched them go, the thought crossed her mind as to how frightening the Abyss had to truly be to turn away even creatures like drakes.

… To say nothing of the mounds of shriveled old bodies that had settled after the waters had drained. Slaughtering a city to save the kingdom was certainly testament to the threat of the Abyss. Seiko did her best to avoid stepping on any of the bodies, as she had when she’d left originally, as she headed back to Ingward. She entered the ruined church, headed for the ladder in the chimney.

“Ingward?”

“Ahh, Seiko. Good. I hope you’ve had success. Too much longer and I would have had to reinvoke the seal.”

Seiko held up a gauntleted left hand. “I found a ring that’s definitely got something to do with the Abyss at Artorias’ grave. I hope that’s success. I won’t know until I try.”

“I see… I had hoped for something more… Definitive. I wait here and watch. Hold still a moment. I wish to mark you so I can follow your presence. If my spell should break, I will know you died, and therefore failed. I will reapply the seal then, or if the Abyss begins to spread before you can succeed.”

“So… I get one try…?”

“It is all we can afford. Your way will not be clear, either. There are surely Darkwraiths who will stand in your way.”

“I can handle invaders just fine with Pyromancy.”

“Not invaders. Not Undead from other worlds who have joined the cause. Child, I refer to those who gave themselves so completely to the dark that their very armor fused with their flesh. Practitioners of Lifedrain. True denizens of the Dark itself.”

“It doesn’t matter… I’m committed now. If what you said is true, that I’m the only one who could do this without worrying about the Abyss like Artorias could, I have to try. All the more because you helped me. Gwynevere was right… I guess this has given me some purpose after all.”

“Indeed. It may be that the ring will ward off the Abyss entirely with no drain on you at all. If that is the case, I would safely wager that you can win.”

“Then I hope that’s what it does,” said Seiko. “Wish me luck.”

\--

**-New Londo-**

Seiko went back down the elevator nearby, but instead of going out the giant sluice gates, turned left and went up some stairs. Water still made the ground damp and flowed down from higher places, still draining in small quantities or perhaps coming from another source. As Seiko moved through the ruins, she heard heavy footsteps coming right at her from the front. It wasn’t until whatever it was was within attack range that she could see it clearly. A skull for a head, shrouded with a black hood, black armor with white ridges or ribs all over it, and a thick straightsword in its right hand.

The black figure was already swinging at Seiko as it came into view. Seiko hopped forward and to the right, past it as it slashed downward. The figure quickly spun to attack again, dragging the sword over the ground and slicing upwards. The slash came up short and Seiko punched the thing in the ribs. It stumbled but held its ground, to her surprise, regaining its balance quickly and attacking again.

“You must be a Darkwraith…” said Seiko, impressed despite the threat.

The Darkwraith didn’t respond, only pressed the assault. Seiko knew she’d have to use Pyromancy to get by, but her enemy was so aggressive she couldn’t get the distance she’d need to throw fireballs. Which suited her just fine, since Combustion and Great Combustion were fast, easy to use, and took very little energy.

Seiko barely dodged another slash, stepped in to grab the Darkwraith’s sword-hand and keep it down, then put her right hand right in its face and snapped out Combustion. The Darkwraith’s face vanished in the blue flames, its body tensed up, and it fell over headless. Seiko looked down at it before moving on. Since Havel, this was the first enemy to withstand her punch, and it didn’t sit well with her. Despite growing stronger and stronger, both in Pyromancy and physically, there were still things that could match her. She wondered if her parents had ever felt the same way. Or if she had, at one time long ago…

Fighting the Darkwraiths one on one wasn’t so bad. They were slower than she was, even if they were aggressive, and her flames made quick work of them. It wasn’t until she found herself in a massive hall that Seiko ran into trouble. A Darkwraith to her left was approaching, she could hear another running toward her on the right, and something else was breathing loudly to the right. Her flame torch wouldn’t do anything to ward off the Dark, so all she could do was dodge past the first Darkwraith and back away. She threw a basic Fireball quickly, continuing to step back. The fire briefly illuminated the Darkwraith she’d gotten past and another approaching.

Seiko decided now was the time to try Immolation, to deter them both from staying close. She pushed her flame into her chest and down to her feet, causing flames to flower from beneath her and spiral around her. Unlike normal fire, Immolation was transparent enough that the user could see out and others could see in. Now a living torch and slowly draining energy, Seiko used both hands to cast Fire Surge and stay away from her foes. 

She dodged this way and that, earning some light cuts down her outstretched arms, but she kept away long enough to wear down the two enemies. Both of them finally felt the heat overwhelm them and paused, trying to put out the blue flames that clung to them. In that moment, Seiko stepped in and pumped up Immolation, completely enveloping them in her fire. The Darkwraiths groaned in agony, clawing at the masks that had fused to their heads and falling over.

Seiko released Immolation, reaching down for her Estus Flask, when a huge spear shot from the darkness and pierced her stomach, straight out her back. It ripped back out and she hit the floor on her back, unable to feel her legs. In a panic, she drank Estus but spilled any that didn’t make it to her mouth by accident. She was healed, though with the hole in her armor, but she had no more Estus. She flipped to her feet from the ground, flames alight, and threw two Fireballs at whatever had done it. A mass of dead bodies, fused together by some larger black slime, came into view. The entire thing writhed at the touch of the flames, easily consumed by the Pyromancy.

Seiko ran toward it, jumping over it and throwing down a Great Fireball for good measure. She landed behind it as it fell to pieces, losing shape and spreading over the floor. Seiko jumped up on part of the ruins to avoid standing in the stuff and spotted a chest above her. She jumped up again, catching the ledge to pull herself up, and opened it. Inside was a small box leaking light from the seams. She opened it, allowing the ember inside to nearly blind her with its light. She closed the box and hung it from her belt, climbing back down to continue on her way.

\--

“That’s it!”

Seiko heard Ingward yell from somewhere above her. She looked up and saw him high overhead, still on the roof of the church. He was pointing at something. Seiko held up her fist and lit it so he could see her more clearly.

“What’s what?”

Ingward flicked his staff and a ball of light flew to float over a nearby structure.

“That’s the way down below the seal. Hurry!”

Seiko looked at where the light had rested. It was a short, stubby tower that could be reached via a short bridge she was standing next to. Seiko put out her flame and crossed the bridge. The only thing inside was a spiral staircase built into the wall of the tower, leading down. There was no guardrail, so Seiko leaned just over the side to look down. The stairs seemed to go down forever, simply fading into the blackness. Seiko took off her Silver Knight gauntlet to look at the ring on her finger again, more to reassure herself that she had it on than anything. She replaced the gauntlet and started down the stairs…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More tomorrow. Should catch us up to FFN.


	19. Chapter 19

**-The Abyss-**

Seiko felt dizzy from the height she fell from, suddenly hitting something solid as if she’d only fallen a few feet. The blackness was disorienting, it was so complete. Seiko looked down and could still clearly see herself, which struck her as even stranger. She spun, looking around for the enemies she had expected. Not a single thing in sight. Seiko turned around again. Now there was a silvery figure practically right next to her. She threw a punch at it, thinking it was one of the Four Kings. Her fist never reached the man, which threw her off. With her fist to compare, suddenly the man seemed distant. Seiko blinked.

\--

Dark Souls: Four Kings, composed by Motoi Sakuraba. The official short version will do.

\--

Suddenly this silvery, robed figure was right next to her, floating at waist level. It looked down at Seiko, and she could feel an aura from the thing that made her feel even smaller. With a sweep of its fist, Seiko was thrown tumbling through the air. She noticed that she didn’t feel as though she were falling down, only spinning in place. She righted herself and her feet touched the nothing, allowing her to stand. Perplexed, but leaving her questions for later, Seiko readied a Fireball and threw it at the King as it approached to follow up. The flames burst on its chest, a direct hit. The King flinched from the intensity, but swept an arm through the flames and aimed a palm at Seiko. A purple Soul Spear shot from its hand right at her. Seiko rolled to the side, coming to her feet with her flames at the ready.

The King was ready for her next few Fireballs, dodging and swaying aside, sweeping its arms at her and launching magic attacks to counter. Once, it swept an arm at her, palm open, and she tried to stop the attack. Seiko caught the arm at the wrist, trying to hold her ground. She slid over the blackness, pushed aside, unable to gain much traction and stop the arm. Before it lifted out of reach, Seiko hauled off and punched the King’s wrist. The King moved away from her, cradling the arm, It appeared to slouch, and Seiko advanced to press her advantage.

Magic exploded from the King in a wide sphere, blasting Seiko backwards. She landed on her back, her ears ringing, but she managed to get over the disorientation and stand. She prepared to throw a Chaos Fireball, seeing the King immobile. Her grin of confidence turned into shock and pain as she felt magic burn through every fiber in her body. A wave of it passed through her from behind, a Soul Spear from another King that had appeared from nowhere. Seiko stumbled, her skin prickling with a thousand needles and numbness. She turned, and spotted a third King as she spun, one that hadn’t noticed her yet.

_ Four of these…?! No way…  _

The second King approached her slashed at her with a blade of magic. Seiko raised her left arm to somehow shield herself. The magic burned away part of the gauntlet and some of the armor on her shoulder, but the armor did its job and saved her life. The force of the attack knocked Seiko into a sitting position. She thrust her right palm forward as the King bent low, shooting Chaos Fire right into its eye. The intense flames spiraled through its head and out the back of its skull. Without another action, the King sank into the black Abyss, breaking apart into white mist.

Seiko didn’t have a moment to appreciate the victory as she felt a massive hand try to close around her. She scrambled through the fingers, but in the process the ring of Artorias, slightly too big for her thin fingers, slipped off. On reaction, Seiko managed to catch it in her right hand, but the second it was off her finger, the Abyss seized her. All of a sudden, black smoke seemed to be forcing its way into her through her ears, her eyes, nose, and mouth. With her free hand, she clawed at her throat, suffocating. The first, injured King, scooped her up easily in her mortal distress.

\--

The world went quiet. No Estus for her wounds, no way to drink if she had it, and if she failed the Abyss would be set free because of her. Her failure. There was pain, of course. Certainly worse than drowning, for the Abyss was invading more than her body. She squeezed the ring in her right, gauntleted hand, so tightly that the gem became unbound from the metal as it bent in her grip. If even her tear ducts were free from the press of the darkness, she would have cried. Her grip gave out. She stopped clawing at her throat to try and breathe. She could feel herself dying.

Her teachers went through her head. Eingyi and the Fair Lady briefly, but mostly on Quelaana. Her memories flashed before her. Neither the Princess of Sunlight and her task, nor the Chosen Undead she wanted to help were her concern anymore. In one irrational, dying thought, to Seiko it would be Quelaana she would fail.

\--

“Unofficial Super Saiyan God Goku Theme” by The Enigma TNG

\--

_ Another into the fold… _

She felt the words more than heard them. She realized it was some wordless will of the Abyss that spoke to her. She felt a vastness and a hunger unlike anything she thought possible.

_ Another? _ she called back.

_ You are not the first of your blood to serve. You will be the last. _

_ Serve? My blood…? _

_ You are a shadow of your father. Hardly worth our power. _

Seiko’s grip tightened.

_ My father defeated you once before. If he could, why couldn’t I? _

She could feel all of the Abyss laugh at and deride her.

The small gem in her hand shattered under the pressure of her tightening fist.

_ Don’t you… Make a fool of me… _

_ Daughter of the enemy, you’ve made a fool of yourself to come here. We are the Abyss - timeless and boundless. You are a single Undead, branded by the curse that could not sink into the flesh of your parents. You are weak. _

_ You don’t know me. _

More derision.

_ What is my name? _

Silence and stillness.

_ You think you know me, but you don’t even know my name. _

Blue flames sparked on her fist, and Seiko tensed up in the grip of the injured King.

_ You have a will. I can feel it now. But so do I. If I am to find my purpose, I can’t allow myself to be swallowed up by you or your lies! _

Seiko, on instinct, came to the conclusion that she had no reason to press her flame to her chest to use Carmina’s Pyromancies. It was simply a trick those ill-suited for her techniques could use to make them easier. In the back of her mind, somewhere subconscious and free from verbal expression, she realized why Carmina’s student hadn’t grasped Carmina’s genius.

Immolation and Power Within flared up together, burning the fingers right off the King’s hand. Seiko hit the nothing with Abyss jetting from her mouth, nose, and eyes. The Dark fused with her flames, tinging it with black streaks. Whatever had allowed the ring to shield her was within her. Excess Abyss was being expelled, but what her body could now handle was anchored to her by the same force. It seeped into her Pyromancy as it had tried to consume her soul, changing it forever. Physical Pyromancy was now something innate to her flames, as Dark Sorcery also had a physical presence.

Suddenly her eyes were clear. The flow of her flames flowering at her feet and rising pushed up her bundled robes and her free-hanging hair as if a wind blew from beneath her. Her blue eyes seemed to glow brighter than ever. She raised a hand as if to form a Fireball, and part of her Immolation spiraled into her hand to shape it. She threw the ball, blue Chaos Pyromancy even under Power Within. The flames splashed over the injured King’s chest, burning away its form unevenly and causing it to shatter.

Seiko spun to see the third King she’d noticed earlier rushing forward, a magic blade like the second King’s held over its head. With the added strength from Power Within, Seiko leapt aside, easily dodging. Her feet hit nothing and she pushed forward, planting a flaming fist in the King’s face. The force bent the King, allowing her to stand on its head as it fell. With her left hand, her whole body wreathed in flames from Immolation, she struck with rigged fingers. Trace amounts of Abyss joined her flames as the burrowed into the forehead of her enemy, and the third King’s head exploded in blue and black fire.

Seiko jumped off the King as it fell and shattered, landing. The last of the Four Kings had appeared and was approaching. Seiko let go of Immolation and focused her flames with both hands, using her Flame Arrow as she had against the hydra, blasting it at the King. She fired several shots, feeling their drain on her acutely. In another few seconds, Power Within could kill her, another fact she knew very well. The King, approaching from afar, dodged her flames and threw a spell of its own. Seiko dodged and undid Power Within, breaking out in a cold sweat almost immediately.

The King kept coming, firing a much slower spell that homed in on Seiko. Seiko waited until the spell drew close before dodging. She rolled, and found that she didn’t have the strength to come to her feet out of the roll. She knelt, squinting, struggling to keep her eyes open, gripping consciousness with an iron will. The King raised a blade of magic to strike her down. Seiko reached up with her left hand and thin, black chains tore from her bare skin, digging into the wrist of the King. With a yank, she barely diverted the blade. She quickly raised her hand again and fired these Abyss chains into the cheek of the King, pulling it.

With the last of her strength, Seiko pulled the King close. She reached out with her right hand as she yanked back with her left, fingers rigid and flaming, implanting the last Pyromancy she had just under its eye.

_ Mission… Accomplished…  _

\--

Seiko awoke to the warmth of a bonfire. She opened her eyes… Or so she thought until she saw nothing but black. Afraid she’d gone blind, she bolted upright, sitting on nothing. She could see her feet, and a lit bonfire to her right. Her armor was still missing a left gauntlet and shoulder, but there were no Kings in sight. Seiko removed her other gauntlet, looking at the ring Siegmeyer had given her. The small pink gem glittered in the firelight, and Seiko wondered if the ring had somehow saved her. She replaced her gauntlet and started to turn toward the fire when she heard a strange clacking noise behind her.

Seiko spun around and her eyes met with a horrible monster rising out of the depths of the Abyss. A green-skinned serpent with large red eyes, no lips to cover its big, flat teeth, and strange tentacles that almost looked like a moustache. The strange thing spoke to her.

“I never thought I’d see this - a will to rival the Abyss. You are a powerful woman to have felled the Four Kings. I am Darkstalker Kaathe, Primordial Serpent. If it is your wish, I will share with you the terrible truth of this world and the task given to you by those in Anor Londo.”

“I’m Seiko… What truth? I’m in no mood for more stupid tricks.”

“The truth of my words may be something you would rather see for yourself, but allow me to place you on the path to discover it. You do not possess the Lordvessel, so I assume you have been sent on behalf of the ‘Chosen Undead?’”

“You say that like you’re skeptical.”

“As you should be. There is no ‘chosen’ one to end this cycle. Kingseeker Frampt, Goddess Velka, and Darksun Gwyndolin have deceived many like you. They seek to prolong this Age of Fire, for their benefit. They fear the passage of man.”

“Why would such powerful- I mean, I’ve heard of them, but- Why would they fear humans?”

“It is the nature of the Dark Soul, the basis of Humanity, to split and grow. Even now, you are within its influence.”

“The Abyss? Humanity is part of this?”

“In a way.”

“Then they’re right to fear it! If this is what comes from Humanity, who wouldn’t fear it?”

“And yet the Abyss now lives within you. And with your appearance, either you’ve never died or you have made use of the Dark to strengthen yourself before.”

“Restoring my Humanity…?”

“Indeed. Or have you never noticed how much more resilient you are as a human?”

Seiko was quiet.

“With the spread of the Abyss, and the growth of the Dark Soul, man would become the rulers of the land. The Lords of old feared to lose their power, to be subjugated by the very creatures they used as slaves. What you find yourself a part of is a cycle of death and fading light, a plot to forever keep the First Flame lit. It is one of the few things that remains constant across the bounds of the many worlds. But just as countless Undead rush to their doom as kindling, even one of you could end the cycle for good… By taking the Flame for your own, snuffing it out entirely.”

“And you want me to do that?”

“That is a choice you must make on your own. If not you, someday someone else will at last recognize the truth and rise to be the Dark Lord.”

“Is there no other way to break the cycle? To forever keep the flame lit, or to save everyone from the Abyss?”

“As of yet, no. Even still, the passage of The Dark will come. Those not suited to it, or those not strong enough to withstand it, will be snuffed out, just as the flame they so worship. As a Pyromancer, you must understand the need of fearing the flames.”

“That’s not what Quelaana’s teaching means. Don’t twist her words to suit your purpose. I’ll keep your ‘truth’ in mind, but I have no reason to trust you… I don’t get the feeling I should, either… Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Black clouds gathered around her, to lift her out of the Abyss at her direction. As she rose back toward the opening she’d fallen through, Kaathe spoke one last time.

“To fully understand, you must bring to me the Lordvessel, Gwyn’s heirloom. With it, you will prove that the truth becomes you, and earn the right to become the true Lord of Darkness.”

\--

Seiko emerged from the tower, restored by the bonfire and troubled by what Kaathe had said. She barely crossed the thin stone bridge to the other side before Ingward stepped in front of her.

“I’m sorry, young Undead, but you harbor the Abyss. I cannot allow you to leave before I reinvoke the seal.”

“You mean drown me?!”

Ingward raised his arms, catalyst in his right hand. Seiko felt the hairs all over her body stand on end, and a rush of power through the air.

“Wait! I know the Abyss has affected me, but it’s not a danger! I promise! It’s barely there at all!”

Ingward didn’t stop. The sluice gates shut and water started pouring in from the ground level.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, “But even the smallest fragment can swallow a nation. Even Lord Gwyn himself feared it. And only Artorias was able to stop it. Unless you can prove, quickly, that I should let you go, the Abyss will be sealed here and now, and us with it.”

Seiko held out her hands, palms up, and manifested the shard of Gwyn’s soul.

“I beat them! I stopped it! Look!”

“No… You cannot feel it as I do. The Abyss is alive still, tied to another.”

“Kaathe…?”

Ingward didn’t make any sign he understood or didn’t.

“Kaathe! It’s Kaathe!” She had to yell over the rushing water now.

“What is Kaathe?”

“Some huge snake. He had a title, but I wasn’t paying attention… He wants me to betray you all, and take the Lordvessel. He wants me to put out the flame. But I won’t do it. Please, I promise.”

Ingward’s demeanor was just as much a mask as the metal that hid his face. Water seeped over the ledge they were standing near. The rate at which the chamber was filling slowed now that the water had more places to go.

“You are asking me to risk the world. To trust you with the very thing I have dedicated my life to keeping hidden in just one place. Either way, I must invoke the seal. I have not the power to both stop you and fill the chamber. All the more reason, now that I know a Primordial Serpent has tied itself to the Abyss.”

The water was halfway up Seiko’s shins. She was speechless.

“I won’t make the decision. If you make it out before the chamber fills, so be it, but I will pour my very soul into filling the chamber as quickly as I-”

Seiko didn’t hear the rest. She lept up onto a ledge above and ran with all she had.


	20. Chapter 20

**-New Londo-**

After a short time, water began pouring into the massive cavern from above as well, as if from nowhere. Seiko felt nearly numb from the sheer amount of magic in the air. As she ran, Seiko looked back to where Ingward had been standing. A maelstrom was swirling about him, keeping him dry until the very end so he could do his work. Seiko’s way out was not without threat, even as Ingward invoked the seal. Darkwraiths that had been set free were converging on the area, all of them trying to get above the maelstrom to jump in and plunge their swords through Ingward’s head. Anything to stop him from sealing the Abyss.

Seiko was nearing the elevator when she noticed them. She looked to the elevator up to Firelink, and back at New Londo. She turned back…

\--

**-Anor Londo-**

Jinta awoke beneath a humongous painting. He’d escaped The Painted World after speaking to Priscilla, who instructed him to jump to his death. Rather than death, he was set free at last. He rose to his feet, checked himself over, and noticed that none of the Painting Guardians, warriors in white robes, had seen him yet. He attempted to sneak around them, but in the end he failed and was forced to fight his way out…

\--

**-New Londo-**

A/N: Seiko’s theme, Compression Space (Evocation Mix), will fit here. I’d recommend YouTube, then replacing everything before the “dot com” with “rainymood” so you can hear the rushing water.

\--

The sounds of clashing metal drew Ingward out of his emotionless concentration. He looked up to see Seiko holding a Dark Sword, stolen from a Darkwraith, fighting two others above him. The sword was tied to her hand tightly by black scraps, probably from her gold-hemmed robes she still wore about her neck. Her armor was still not fixed, and where she’d already been cut she bled freely. The water flowing into the room prevented her blood from clotting properly, on top of all the movement.

Seiko deflected a blow, then blasted the opponent to her right with Pyromancy from her left hand. The Darkwraith took the attack full in the chest, blue flames wreathing it. Before Seiko could be sure it was dead, the other Darkwraith dove at her bodily, left hand glowing. Seiko stepped to the side, fearing what magic the Darkwraith had been trying to use, but she forgot she wasn’t its target. The Darkwraith lept from the edge, sword flashing. It was a perfect arc to bring it down to Ingward, who could only watch.

Seiko reached out with her left hand, chains of Abyss tearing through her skin, and latched the Abyss onto the Darkwraith. Seiko braced herself and the Darkwraith swung through the air before colliding with a wall and falling into the water. Seiko turned to see the other Darkwraith getting up out of a puddle to put itself out. It raised its left hand and the air shimmered, using a shield spell Seiko had seen from other Darkwraiths. Seiko raised an arm as if to ready a Fireball, then shot the Abyss out of her wrist into the Darkwraith’s ankles. She yanked, pulling the Darkwraith to the ground, and pounced on it, cleaving its head in two with the sword tied to her right hand.

Seiko looked around to be sure no more Darkwraiths were nearby, tore the scraps off her right hand to leave the sword behind, and started running. She could no longer jump with the water so high, but she had the idea to shoot the Abyss chains into the wall and rappel up to the elevator. She clambered over the edge and looked down again. There were small black marks where the chains had been, slowly but noticeably flowering outward. Seiko put her hand over them and felt the Abyss stab back under her skin. When she pulled her hand away she had two new small cuts, but the Abyss was gone from the wall.

Satisfied she’d done all she could, Seiko ran for the elevator, up to Firelink Shrine.

\--

**-Firelink Shrine-**

Seiko walked wearily up the stairs, aiming to rest at the bonfire. She remembered as she neared the cell where the Firekeeper had been that the bonfire was out… But the Firekeeper was there after all, somehow. Seiko hurried up the stairs to find that the bonfire was indeed lit. She walked up to it, exhausted, and sat nearby. For a while, she simply sat with her eyes closed. As she relaxed, and her breathing quieted, she thought she heard Kaathe’s clacking teeth again.

Seiko opened her eyes and looked toward the sound and there it was, another Primordial Serpent. Seiko jumped up and ran toward the thing, flames building up around her.

“What are- Wait! I’m no enemy!”

“Kaathe!”

“I am not Kaathe! I am Kingseeker Frampt! Please! Calm down!”

Seiko’s boots skid to a halt before the Serpent. She was already surrounded by Immolation, her flames billowing with sparse tongues of black in the azure.

“You look no different! And you sound the same! You expect me to believe you?!”

“This is the form of all we Serpents. I can do nothing but implore you to see reason. I am here solely for the purpose of guiding the Chosen Undead to his goal.”

Seiko remembered what Kaathe had said.

“Kaathe said you were a liar. That there was no ‘Chosen’ one. You’re just feeding us to the First Flame.”

Frampt sighed. “Of course he did. Did you consider that he is tied to the Abyss, and that the Flame going out serves his purpose? He is the liar, young Undead. I am simply doing as Lord Gwyn instructed; I am attempting to find one with a soul strong enough to succeed the Lord of Sunlight. One who will forever keep the Flame lit, and thereby allow life to go on. The coming of the Dark would bring only death and despair, the likes of which this world has never seen.”

“You say that as if your task doesn’t already bring despair. I’ve heard how many Undead have failed. I’ve seen some of them myself, as Hollows.”

“It is no fault of mine that they fell short of their task. You are correct that, yes, the way of one who would be Chosen is hard… But if the way were easy, any who completed the task would not be fit to meet its end. And the few who make it far enough to see and hear from me far outweigh the millions or even billions more elsewhere whose peace they protect by completing their task.”

Seiko let her flames die out. “Even so, I don’t trust either of you. Both of you make sense.”

“Kaathe has sent you for the Lordvessel… Hasn’t he?”

Seiko just looked at Frampt.

“And you have yet to decide if you will listen or not. Further, you have ventured into the Abyss yourself. I can sense you are quite powerful, and your Pyromancy is also intense. You could not be so passionate about the truth if you were not concerned with making the right choice, and there is little I can do to sway you. If you are so worried, your only choice will be to meet the Chosen Undead and speak with him. I cannot say how long you will need to wait. He has gone away to pursue a different task, but it is certain he will return here. Only through me can he offer Lord Souls to the vessel, and he has yet to acquire even one.”

Seiko sighed. Without another word, she walked to the side and sat with her back to a crumbled pillar. She pulled her hood over her head, adjusted her hair in it, and napped. The ruined building still had enough of a second floor to shade her from the sun overhead…

\--

“… Then I present you with the customary attire of a Paladin of the Way of White,” said Petrus, motioning to a chest behind him. “Please… Go quickly, and save M’lady… If she should be left alone in that terrible place, she will surely die. You’re the only one I can count on now.”

Jinta couldn’t tell Petrus’ act from the truth, he was so concerned. Jinta immediately accepted, donning the armor and reassuring Petrus that he needn’t worry any longer. He had his own reasons for going to the Catacombs anyway, after all.

\--

A/N: BRS TV, The Lost Memory by Hiromi Kikuta

\--

Jinta approached Frampt to consult him as to where he should go next, but Frampt redirected him.

“Before we speak, the Undead resting there wanted to speak with you. I suggest you finish that business first. And do be careful. How your conversation progresses will greatly affect your journey. Of that, I am certain.”

Jinta took off his newly-acquired golden helmet and approached quietly, kneeling. He didn’t want to wake whoever it was with a start, not when they appeared so battered and well-traveled.

Seiko’s armor was still missing from her left arm, including a slice out of the torso from the tip of her shoulder to under her armpit. Her face, however, was hidden under her hood. Jinta nudged her a bit, gently. She woke, blinking away the sleep.

“M’lady? I was told you wanted to speak with me.”

“You’re… The warrior from the Asylum… Yes, if you’re the ‘Chosen’ Undead, you’re exactly who I need to talk to.”

“I’m Jinta. Paladin Jinta, now, it would seem.”

He held out his right hand. Seiko looked at it first, then reached out with hers and shook his hand awkwardly.

“I’m Seiko, a Pyromancer.”

“Ahh, so  _ you’re _ who I’ve heard so much about. Tetsuro and Solaire have mentioned you a long time ago. To be honest, it didn’t sound like you were doing so well. I see you’ve not been without your trials.”

Jinta glanced at her missing armor as he spoke to imply why he’d said so.

“I’m not here for small talk. I want to know why you’re doing this.”

“Doing… What, exactly?”

“I’ve heard about you too. That you’ve had the worst time of everyone. How you keep dying and failing. No wonder I caught up with you. Why would you subject yourself to this? You’re a Paladin, right? A healer, or something. Why not just leave this place and be a traveling healer? Why throw yourself against the wall over and over? You’re no ‘Chosen’ one. You’ve spoken to Tetsuro. How can both of you be ‘the chosen one’?”

Frampt glared at her, but was silent. She acknowledged his gaze, which had Jinta look back at the Serpent.

“I’ve already thought of that,” said Jinta. His face grew melancholy. “I suppose if I had to answer, it’s because this is what I set out to do. I followed Solaire on his way here. I spent my own time in the Asylum. Only the two of us journeyed from Astora, that I know of, to complete this task. I feel as if… As if I need to do this in case Solaire fails to see it through. He’s stronger than me in every way. In faith, in combat, in charisma… But I’ve made it this far, even though I’ve needed help.”

“So you’re at least not stupid enough to blindly be following instructions, then.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Seiko tilted her head.

“I’m not a very smart man, you know. I’m far too trusting of others. I’ve already been fooled by a phantom who appeared to be white, though I didn’t summon it, who stabbed me in the back. I’ve made it this far, I guess, because I simply refuse to give up. Because I’m stubborn. If I were smart, I’d do as you say, and abandon this quest where, truthfully, I am not needed at all.”

“You’re not making a very good case for yourself.”

“I’m simply being honest.”

“Then allow me to do the same. I’m considering killing you, stealing back the Lordvessel, and putting an end to this whole cycle. I’ve heard the side that says that’s the right thing to do - that all this death and all these lies are just prolonging an Age that should be dead and gone itself. But then I hear that the suffering here prevents suffering elsewhere. That your duty is just the legacy of some dead king who feared the Dark. I was taught Pyromancy by a Witch who saw herself what coveting a flame can do to a person… Can do to the world… So I’ll ask you directly, then: Can you honestly say what you’re doing is the right thing? Do you think that sacrificing your soul to this Flame will do more good than harm? In five years? Ten? Fifty? Five hundred? Five hundred thousand?”

Jinta bit his lip and wasn’t looking at her. “You’re awfully passionate about this…”

Seiko stayed quiet, watched and waited. She ended up waiting a full minute while Jinta thought it over.

“Part of me wants to help you,” she said. “If we go together, your way would be much easier. And no matter which way I choose, I’ll feel like I’m betraying someone, somehow. Part of me wants to just do as Kaathe said, after hearing all this, despite how I dislike him. To just strike you down and see what the world ‘should be’ according to him. But a third part just wants to leave and forget I saw any of this… I can’t do that. I’ve been taught better than that.”

“Then help me. If you’re on the fence about it, help me. You can stop this any time you want, can’t you? I know it’s a risk to myself - that having you help me to the end only means bringing you directly where you need to be do pull the rug out from under me - but maybe if you come with me, and you allow my actions to speak rather than my words, I can change your mind. You seem like you want to make the right choice, and you’ve certainly thought it out better than I have. I’d rather it not come to a fight between us, and I’d greatly appreciate another set of hands.”

Seiko stood up. “See? Not stupid. Wishy washy, weak spirited, too passive and tolerant, but not stupid.”

She held out her right hand, Jinta took it, and she lifted him off his knee. He was a full head taller than her.

“Is it normal for a Pyromancer’s eyes to glow like that?” he asked.

Seiko blinked. “My eyes glow?”

“You didn’t know? It’s easier to see because of your hood, I think, but yes. I’ll take that as a no, then.”

\--

“I take it,” said Frampt, “This means you won’t be a threat for now?”

“Not ‘for now.’ For good. I’m not the type to go back on a decision. I’ll help. For better or worse, I guess, this is the path I’ll take. Speaking of…”

She held out her left hand and manifested the Lord Soul shard from the Four Kings.

“The Princess tasked me with recovering this for you. She said I was the only one who could withstand the Abyss… I don’t know if I can believe that, since both Tetsuro and Solaire will need to as well, but regardless, here it is.”

Jinta was awestruck. “You… Killed the Four Kings on your own?”

Seiko’s eyes flicked left, then right, then back to him, confused. “Yes?”

“I haven’t been able to do a thing that substantial on my own since I got here. I’m very impressed. By my standards, you’ve done something I was worried would be impossible for me.”

He accepted the soul.

“This leaves Seath, Nito, and Chaos, right?” he asked Frampt.

“Correct.”

“Considering the Catacombs will likely be home to more Undead, I’d like to suggest heading there first.”

“From this point, I didn’t have anywhere to go, really,” said Seiko. “Lead the way.”


	21. Chapter 21

**-The Catacombs-**

Seiko and Jinta started down the stairs leading into the side of the cliff. They’d only walked a short distance from Firelink Shrine, through a graveyard. Jinta cleared his throat, the third time since they started walking. Seiko looked over at him. Her armor was fixed thanks to his repair box, and her hood was up. In the dim light, her eyes glowed far more obviously than in the sunlight.

“You’re making me nervous with the silence. Do you not find extended silence to be troublesome?”

“No. I don’t know you. What am I supposed to say?”

“A fair point… Well, how about you tell me your story?”

“There’s not much to say. I started losing memories in the Asylum until you and Tetsuro started your break out. On the way here, the crow was attacked by something and I fell into Blighttown. Because of that, though I was trained by Quelaana, and given my name. Then I climbed up to Firelink, met with Tetsuro, and followed him to Anor Londo. We were separated after our fight with Quelaag, but I had help through the Fortress from a Knight of Catarina named Siegmeyer. While we were there, in your world, you beat Ornstein and Smough, and we were separated again until Siegmeyer and I could beat them too. We did, I spoke to the Princess, and she sent me to the Four Kings. You know the rest.”

They reached the bottom of a staircase that hugged the inside of the cave they found themselves in. The next step was a ladder down into deeper darkness. Jinta looked down, but couldn’t see a thing besides some small sparks of white light.

“You make it sound easy, but I’m sure there’s more detail to it than that.”

He looked back at her and put on his helmet, which muffled his voice slightly.

“I’m willing to bet our fight starts here. You wouldn’t happen to be able to light that room for a moment, would you?”

Seiko nodded, but paused to consider her options. She could just throw a fireball and light the room briefly for a flash. She could use Fire Surge, but that wouldn’t light the whole chamber completely. She decided to try something new, less as an attack and more for practicality. She raised both hands, palms straight out, fingers open. The air out in front of her sparked a bit before four fireballs appeared at regular intervals across the ledge, then began to extend out over the chamber. Seiko had to close her eyes and concentrate to keep all four lit, and it took more energy than she thought it would.

“I was right,” said Jinta. Breaking the silence broke Seiko’s concentration, and the bars of flame went out. She lowered her arms and heaved a breath, noticeably drained, but just in need of a brief rest. Jinta noticed.

“Would it be possible to just light the area around yourself? Like a torch? I can defend you if you provide light.”

“I can do both…” said Seiko, sounding a bit offended that he thought she wouldn’t be able to.

“I can do neither without some sort of light source. If I were alone I’d have to backtrack outside and find something I could turn into a torch.”

Seiko raised her right hand over her head, balled her fist, and lit it aflame. The flickering blue light lit the area around them, far enough to see the ground of the chamber a few meters down, but didn’t nearly light the entire room. Jinta started down the ladder, to draw attention to the skeletons he’d seen. As he neared the bottom, Seiko jumped down and landed right next to him, surprising him. He started to question, but clattering bones on brick signaled the first attacker. Jinta drew his Estoc and parried the skeleton’s wild strike with its curved sword. With another swift motion, he cut the skeleton down, his weapon leaving a faint white trail in the air.

“Magic?” asked Seiko.

“My weapons are blessed. It’s a major reason why I suggested coming here first. Another, of course, being how close we were to it. There are a few more skeletons. I’ll advance, so stick close behind me.”

Jinta drew his other sword, a falchion, in his right hand. He walked forward and Seiko followed just behind, right hand held high as their torch, left hand holding a swirling Fireball at the ready. Two skeletons rushed from the darkness, flailing their weapons. Jinta dodged one and slashed upward, from hip to shoulder, and downed one. He then ducked an overhead slash, one that then nearly missed Seiko’s face, and slashed through the skeleton’s spine. His blade passed through tough bone as if it were clay, which Seiko took note of. She noticed, looking down at the second enemy to fall, that another pile of bones was rising from the dirty brick floor. She tossed a Fireball at it, the flames consuming it, killing the skeleton before it became an issue.

“There must be a mage nearby raising these things… Unless we set off some sort of alarm by entering,” said Jinta. “I much prefer the former, because the latter implies we’ll be fighting every single person ever buried down here.”

The two turned to walk through the only way forward, a thin hallway, when two footsteps sounded behind them. Before either could act, a curved sword slashed through Seiko’s gold-hemmed robes that hung down her back, and scraped a scar across the back of her armor. Seiko whirled about, snapping out a Black Flame, a Pyromancy new to her that was a darker version of Great Combustion. The skeleton that had attacked her was the same one from before, risen again, charred bones and all. It was blown to pieces by Seiko’s burst of black and blue fire, but the bones remained intact thanks to the magic acting on it.

Jinta had flinched away from the heat, but spoke up as soon as it died away.

“That leads me to believe it’s a mage raising them. They’ll keep getting up until we either stop the mage, or if I put them down with my weapons.”

“I guess the blessing is useful for more than killing them in one hit, huh?”

“Like I said, it’s a major reason why I decided to come here first. It should be the easiest path of the remaining three, and with you here it will only be easier. Otherwise I’d have to light my own way and fight at the same time.”

“Still, it would be easier for you to do it alone than me. Having to kill the same enemy over and over just to move forward would exhaust me. Not to mention be dangerous.”

The two waited for the skeleton to get up again, Jinta cut it down quickly, and they moved into the next room. It was a dead end, with a massive sealed door blocking the way. Two more skeletons rose from the floor to attack Seiko and Jinta. Seiko threw a punch at one as Jinta turned to deal with the other. The skeleton dodged aside, much swifter than it appeared, and Seiko only ended up punching a half-crumbled pillar. She moved away from the skeleton without looking over at it to avoid any attack it would make after dodging, then turned to face it. What she saw instead was the skeleton running for a hole in the wall near a corner in the room.

“One’s running!” she called out as she chased it.

Jinta had already killed the other, so he turned to follow her. Seiko threw a Fireball, but the skeleton dodged it again, this time off the incline the hole had led to and into a small room. A Fireball from an enemy shot out of the dark, forcing Seiko to lower her right arm and counter with one of her own. The two magics collided, spraying orange and blue flames through the air. Seiko swept the room with a Fire Whip, downing the skeleton but unable to reach the figure at the other end of the room. She raised her arm again to light the area and moved in, her left hand at the ready to intercept anything that the remaining enemy would try.

When she and Jinta drew closer, they could see that the figure was a man who appeared so old it was as if he’d been mummified. He held a lantern made of a charred human skull, churning his flame within it before launching another Fireball out of it. Seiko snapped out Black Flame, creating a brief wall of fire to negate the incoming attack. She stepped forward, unaffected by her own flames, and punched the old man in the chest with her left arm. Bones shattered under the force, the man flew back into the wall, and his lantern went out.

“That was… Excessive… But I didn’t know fire could snuff out fire,” said Jinta.

“Ordinarily it can’t. That wouldn’t make any sense. Pyromancy isn’t normal fire… Or, I guess, it doesn’t have to be. Physical fire, hotter and cooler flames, using the flame for something other than offense… Pyromancy has many faces. I’ve constantly been learning more about it, and I still feel like I’m missing some important techniques or concepts…”

“So, then, you used physical fire and flames of a higher heat and stopped his attack? That must take a lot of control.”

Seiko lowered her right arm, which was lit as a torch with blue flames lightly flickering over her armor.

“Control is actually what I lack the most. I can’t seem to bring my heat down below blue, or even up to white. When you see red or orange flames, those are the easiest to produce and control, but they’re also the coolest. And the physical aspect just takes… A twist? It’s hard to describe. It’s more of a feeling than a thought.”

“It sounds like Quelaana taught you a lot. Unless those are all your findings beyond her teachings? It also makes Pyromancy sound like the exact opposite of Sorcery, which takes incredible concentration and knowledge of the workings of magic.”

“That was all stuff Quelaana taught me. I’ve never learned anything about sorcery, so I wouldn’t know. But you’re a paladin, right? How is that different?”

“You must have seen Solaire use lightning, right? That’s about as close as a miracle can get to Pyromancy. The lines we must know to draw on lightning are so short and simple that even a thought can be enough to use it. More complicated miracles, however, like healing or shielding oneself from harm, require a verbal recital of the correct passages or tales. Further, one must have the faith to have it answer one’s call.”

“So, memorization and faith?”

“Essentially, yes.”

\--

The two walked back into the previous chamber, the dead end.

“Now the question,” said Jinta, “Is how to proceed.”

“There was a bonfire in the other room. Maybe we should light it and look around in there?”

Seiko walked back in, lighting the bonfire as Jinta entered the room.

“Maybe moving that?” said Jinta, pointing to something behind Seiko.

She turned to see a wide, thin slab jutting from the wall. It was attached to some mechanism. Seiko stepped up to it and pushed the slab toward the wall. The mechanism moved long enough to release something inside the wall, causing something large to shift and shake the ground for a second. Seiko and Jinta went back to the other room to see the way clear. The slab that had been in their way had slid into the ground. Faint light lit the way ahead, and the path was lined with odd statues.

“Onward we go, then…” said Jinta.

The light turned out to be sunlight from an opening high above. They found themselves a third of the way down into a massive ravine, slashed into the ground deeper than the sunlight allowed them to see. Another necromancer walked on the other side of the ravine, where the catacombs continued across a bridge. In fact, there were many bridges crossing the gap, each lower than the last. The catacombs were carved into both sides, with no telling how far into each side they continued. A skeleton on their side, the left, spotted them and started moving in to defend the catacombs. When it spotted them, others in the area started to follow, and the necromancer was aware of their position as well.

Jinta took the fore, cutting down the skeletons in exchange for some scars in his armor and some bruises. The chainmail under the white cloth of his armor prevented the rusted blades the skeletons carried from slicing into his flesh, but didn’t stop the force of their blows. With no muscle to drive them, their strength was more than human, gifted from unearthly force.

Seiko took to bombarding the necromancer. Her straight-flying Pyromancy was blocked by a skeleton with a shield. She didn’t want to use Chaos Pyromancy so soon, so she took a different approach. 

Jinta felled the last skeleton on their side and started toward the bridge that would lead him to the necromancer and the skeletons that guarded him. He glanced back to make sure Seiko was ok, but instead caught sight of her leaping clear over the gap. She hit the ground, rolled to the side to keep her orientation and change direction, slid over some gravel, then charged forward. A skeleton slashed at her, but too wide and too slow. Seiko threw up an arm, ulna bone met silver gauntlet, and her other arm knocked the skeleton to pieces. The necromancer shot a Fireball with his lantern the second the skeleton was out of the way. As Jinta rushed for the bridge, he watched Seiko throw the ragged black robe she wore like a mantle in the way of the Fireball. She charged right through the attack, threw back the robes to see, stepped in, and landed a punch right in the necromancer’s chest.

\--

Jinta arrived in time to cut down the skeleton Seiko had knocked aside, and another just behind her, but then the din of combat fell away to silence once more.

“Your hood,” said Jinta, “Is all that a cape, or rags, or… You blocked Pyromancy with it.”

Seiko pulled the gold-hemmed robe from around her shoulders, held it by the shoulders, shook it once to snap it out, and held it up.

“They were a gift from Quelaana - robes just like hers. No matter how hot, no flame can harm them. Not even Chaos or melted stones. That’s not to say if I wore them and dove in magma that I’d be ok, but they’re still useful.”

“I suppose that explains why it looked so wrinkled around your shoulders, instead of flowing like a usual cape or mantle. It also explains why you haven’t cut it to behave as such. Aren’t they hot to the touch after using them like that?”

Seiko ran her hands over the robes. If it was hot, she couldn’t feel it through her gauntlets. She took one off, set it down, and tried again.

“No? Why?”

“It makes me wonder if the robes absorb heat somehow. Normally, wearing cloth like that bunched around your neck would make you hot, wouldn’t it? Or are you just that tolerant of high heat?”

Seiko shrugged and started putting the robe back where it belonged. She was adjusting the robe around her shoulders, done making sure her hair was out of the way, when an arrow pierced the back of her hand and pinned it to her collarbone. Seiko flinched away and cried out in pain, looking for where the arrow had come from. Before Jinta could stop her, she jumped up into a break in the wall, toward the glowing white sockets of a skeleton archer.

Jinta immediately ran ahead on the only path he had, cutting down one or two skeletons and trying to figure out which way would lead him to Seiko. The sound of smashing pottery, clattering bones, and weapons hitting the ground led him right to her. The three skeletons that had been in the room were knocked over for the moment and Seiko was busy smashing one of their skulls into a sharp corner over and over.

“Will you stop a moment and at least heal yourself?!” said Jinta, trying to find the bones he needed to cut into to keep the skeletons down.

Seiko, her left hand still pinned to her right shoulder, ignored him. The skull she was trying to shatter was protected by the necromancer’s magic, and was actually chipping away at the sharp corner with every blow instead of doing a thing to the skull. The bodies of her enemies started to reform, but Jinta cut them out of the air. The second one of his swords passed through the bones of the skeleton whose skull she had in had, Seiko’s next blow shattered the skull to dust and fragments.

Seiko huffed, some sparks flying from her teeth, and ripped her left hand away from her shoulder. She yanked the arrowhead out, gritting her teeth, and threw it away. Once the shaft of the arrow was out of her hand and her body was free from foreign objects, Seiko drank some Estus to heal the wounds and kicked another nearby skull. It shattered against the wall across the room.

Jinta watched the whole thing in silence. It was obvious Seiko had an irrationally wrathful streak, and he wasn’t too sure what it was that had set her off. Was it the surprise? Was she jealous of her hands? Her hair? Perhaps the robe? While he was busy wondering, Seiko approached him.

“Let’s go, already.”

“Right…”

The two pressed on, further into the Catacombs...


	22. Chapter 22

**-The Catacombs-**

Tetsuro ducked a swing and shattered the skeleton that had attacked him, wielding his Murakumo curved greatsword in wide, sweeping attacks. His armor had scars all over it, but no breaches. He was walking across a bridge he’d just made available, skeletons rushing him, a necromancer across the bridge preparing a Fireball. Tetsuro spun to face a skeleton, deflected a blow with his shield, smacked the attacker’s rib cage with Murakumo, then spun again. He took a knee, hiding behind his iron round shield, as the necromancer’s Fireball struck. Heat washed over him, but he was unharmed. He stood, shield still up, and charged forward.

The necromancer turned to run, two more skeletons emerging to cover his escape. Tetsuro ignored them, blasting right through one as it tried to step in the way of his shielded charge. Tetsuro slipped Murakumo into the strap he had for it on his back, drawing a Silver Knight straightsword at his hip for the tighter quarters he was entering. The old necromancer couldn’t keep a swift enough pace to escape, and Tetsuro caught up with him in seconds. With a single swing of his sword, Tetsuro cleaved through the man’s back.

With the necromancer dead, the skeletons nearby started staying down. Tetsuro’s strength was enough to shatter bones, his dexterity such that he could easily deflect their attacks with both sword and shield. Down and down he went, toward his first Lord Soul. He reached another bridge he’d need to rotate and searched for the lever. He spied a metal glint on a platform below, but kept looking. There appeared to be one up a nearby ladder, so Tetsuro sheathed his sword and climbed.

“Oh! Why hello, there. You look reasonably sane!” said a thin, bald man standing near a lever.

“What’re you doing in the Catacombs? You don’t look like a cleric to me,” he continued.

“I’m here for the Lord Soul of Gravelord Nito. And you’re in my way,” said Tetsuro, pointing at the lever.

“Oh, pardon me, pardon me. If you’re going that far down, do be careful. There are all sorts of traps and monsters that don’t appear anywhere else, you know. You can never be  _ too _ careful!”

Tetsuro pushed in the stone lever and watched the bridge rotate.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Tetsuro, deadpan and unamused.

He didn’t bother with the ladder on his way down, jumping in full steel armor and bending his knees to absorb a bit of the shock before walking away. The thin man watched him go, until he was nearly halfway across the bridge.

“Rude git, this one. Didn’t so much as let me introduce myself!” he said to himself, pulling the lever back out to rotate the bridge and drop Tetsuro. He looked back to see Tetsuro had cleared the bridge before it rotated. Tetsuro was also drawing a bow larger than he was. The thin man dove for cover as an arrow larger than the average sword embedded in the wall behind where he’d stood.

“Where’d he even get that?! He was carrying two swords and a shield!”

\--

“The bridge! Hurry!” yelled Jinta.

Jinta and Seiko faced the same trial in their world. Seiko could have easily crossed in time, but Jinta was too slow. Instead, Seiko grabbed Jinta by the arm and threw him the rest of the way. He hit the rock wall near the door to proceed as Seiko slid off the side of the bridge into the darkness below.

A short time later, Seiko reformed from the ash of a bonfire they’d discovered not long before. With one of her Humanity she reversed her Hollowing before venturing back out. “Trusty” Patches, who’d dropped the bridge while they were on it, was nowhere to be seen now. Seiko rotated the bridge again so it was safe to walk on, and ran across to find Jinta.

He was waiting for her in the middle of the next chamber, a small book in his hands. He shut the book when he heard her approaching, placing it back in a pouch on his belt.

“There you are… Did you survive?!”

“No, I used Humanity. Patches is gone.”

“Why would he do that? If he wanted souls, dropping us would only mean he’d have to find our bodies. Humanity as well.”

“Jinta, some people don’t need a reason,” responded Seiko. It quickly came to mind that she didn’t really have a reason to say that, but she had the impression that she knew it to be true.

“I prefer to think better of others than that…” said Jinta. “But I suppose that’s useless, given that, in this case, ‘thinking better’ of Patches was thinking he had a reason to kill us.”

Seiko could only shake her head.

“Anyway, now that you’re here, we should push forward.”

He drew his swords and lead the way out of the chamber. The way ahead took them along the cliff again, this time on a C-shaped ledge that was guarded by three skeletons. There were floating skulls watching them as well, which made things a bit eerie. As Jinta engaged the skeletons, Seiko took a glance back just in time to see one of the skulls streak forward and hit her in the back. There was an explosion of magic and Seiko was bowled into Jinta and the skeletons. Seiko was numbed and had a hard time even rolling away from Jinta so he could get up, though she managed after a second. She stayed down while Jinta gained his feet quickly.

Jinta cut down the skeletons and hopped aside as another skull flew at him. It stopped before hitting the wall and looked for him while the third skull started flying at Seiko, who was only then drawing her Estus flask. Jinta dashed forward, stopped when he stood over her, and cast a miracle. She heard him mutter out some lines and saw a bright flash. Whatever he’d done, it sent the skull that had tried to attack her careening into the far wall of the ravine. It exploded there, far away, harmless.

“Stay down and drink your Estus. The other one’s coming,” said Jinta.

Seiko drank, sitting up slightly to do so, but she didn’t move otherwise. The other skull that had attacked Jinta previously flew at them. Jinta repeated his lines, there was another flash, and the skull flew back into a wall like the other. Jinta stepped away from Seiko, but looked around for any other threats rather than stop and help her up.

“What was that?” asked Seiko as she stood.

“The miracle ‘Force,’” said Jinta. “Another quick, easy miracle. It doesn’t really damage anything so much as repel objects. Arrows, spells, enemies; it’s very useful to get some breathing room or defend against long range attacks.”

The two continued forward, following the path back into the cliff, into a dark room. There were coffins evenly spaced, and the room grew unnaturally dim. Seiko raised her right arm as their torch and they proceeded forward. Not too far in and they both froze. At the other end of the chamber, something large was waiting.

“Titanite Demon… It also looks like a dead end.”

Seiko pointed. “There’s another way right there.”

“I’m not sure I trust a broken hole in the wall leading to a dark pit any more than trying to pass a Titanite Demon.”

“You're the one in the lead, here. Not to wash my hands of the choice, but you do have the final say.”

Jinta huffed. “Let's get a bit closer and see what's behind the Demon. If that's the way forward, we'll have to fight it anyway.”

Seiko immediately walked toward the figure, her right hand still up. The hall behind the Titanite Demon was certainly a dead end, complete with a corpse crushed against the wall. The Demon raised it's catch-poll, charging it with lightning.

“Through the hole!” said Jinta, grabbing his talisman so he was ready to use Force again. Seiko ran past him, took one look down to see if she could survive the jump, and disappeared into the dark. Jinta dodged a bolt before sliding down the ladder after her. He heard her fighting skeletons, so he drew his weapons the second he was off the ladder to finish them.

“I don't think it will follow us,” said Jinta, looking around.

There was only one way forward, a hallway lined with indents for bodies to be laid to rest. Footsteps on dirt could be heard around the corner, signalling more skeletons.

“We need to keep heading down,” said Jinta, moving to round the corner. “Nito will likely be-”

Jinta ate a Fireball full in the face. He’d assumed there were only skeletons, but a necromancer had been waiting in the dark behind them. As he batted away flames, dropping his weapons to tear off his helmet and drink Estus, Seiko rolled forward to dodge arrows from the two skeletons, then snapped out two Combustions. She came out of her roll practically staring the necromancer in the face. Chains of Abyss snapped out around the opening of her armor, around her neck, flying at the necromancer. At the end of the chains were sharp cones, which pierced right through the necromancer’s head and neck. In the next instant, Seiko recalled the chains and Abyss back into her.

She turned back to see Jinta putting his helmet back on and suddenly realized she didn’t know how he would react to her containing a part of the Abyss. Black tongues of flame in her Pyromancy was one thing, since he didn’t know anything about Pyromancy, but using the Abyss directly was another. If she didn’t tell him, he’d find out eventually if she had to use it in an emergency. If she did, it was possible he’d refuse to travel together any longer.

She took too long pondering the thought, apparently, because she’d been staring into space and coincidentally in Jinta’s direction.

“You ok? Where’d you get those cuts on your neck?” he asked.

Seiko remembered that the Abyss had to rip out from under her skin. No point in lying, then.

“When I went to retrieve the Lord Soul shard from the Four Kings, I broke my father’s ring. Whatever was in it is now in me, and it’s attached some of the Abyss to me somehow.”

Jinta was quiet. Was he waiting to hear more?

“You’ve seen the black in my flames. I think it’s affecting me in ways I don’t know about, too.”

“You carry the Abyss? That which Lord Gwyn feared so much he caused the creation of Chaos, sacrificed great cities, and even gave his very soul to keep at bay? I’ll say it’s affecting you. I’ve heard of dark magic before, of the nature of the Abyss and its will. Pyromancy gets a pass in my eyes because it is not of the mind, but of the body or the will, as miracles are of the spirit. I had no idea it was possible for there to be dark Pyromancy, as there is dark sorceries. I don’t think you should have told me about this.”

“What if I had to use it in an emergency?”

Jinta crossed his arms. “Good point. I would have thought you were deceiving me, certainly.”

“I can promise you I won’t let it out. I have some control over it because there is so little.”

“You’re the one who volunteered to help me and decided not to fight me instead. I need the extra hands, so I have no room to refuse your presence. Honestly, whether I know about your harboring the Abyss or not, I have no choice. I’ve got to keep up with the others, and the less death I suffer the better. Not that I want it to sound like I’m using you, because that isn’t my intention, but that is the reality of our current relationship.”

Jinta sighed and collected his weapons, sheathing them.

“I can only say that it sounds unhealthy, and that it puts the lives of many people at risk. If I were you, and I knew such a thing existed within me that could break free at any moment, I would isolate myself as much as possible… Or I might have stayed down there and left the Chosen Undead to seek a different soul to use for the Lordvessel.”

“It has a will,” said Seiko, “you’re right. It wants something from me, but I don’t know what it is. I think I heard it when it was killing me. It doesn’t… Speak, really. It’s more of a feeling. So I know it wants something, and I know I can’t easily get rid of it, and it has changed me or affected me somehow, but that’s it. I have confidence, though, that it’s under my control for the moment.”

“Just be sure it’s you controlling it, and not it controlling you.”


	23. Chapter 23

**-The Catacombs-**

Tetsuro’s shield bent nearly in half at the force of the axe hitting it, dead center. His left arm underneath was broken in the process, and the force bearing down carried him to the ground. An elbow shattered a skull under him as he hit the ground. The Black Knight pulled its axe back, looking down at its crushed opponent. Tetsuro had to choose between holding on to his Silver Knight sword and reaching for his Estus. Either choice might still have the Black Knight kill him anyway. 

A sound like rushing air came from the Knight, slowly turning into an unmistakable war cry. The sound, and a strange feeling almost like an aura, gave Tetsuro goosebumps. The Knight swung down, Tetsuro slashed up, and the black axe split Tetsuro’s skull, killing him.

\--

Shards of bone and wood flew through the air, sizzling when they landed in the stagnant water nearby. The sign that Seiko was finally having some success against the skeletons now that there wasn’t a necromancer to protect them. Jinta stared down his opponent, a Black Knight with a massive greataxe. Jinta had both of his swords drawn, his estoc in his left hand and a falchion in his right. Blessed, in his hands they were more powerful and unbreakable.

The Knight stepped in and swept the axe horizontally for Jinta’s chest. Jinta slid his left foot forward, bent at the waist to let the axe pass over him, then swept his right foot to pivot on where his left had stopped. It was a duck to avoid the axe and a spin to get his falchion in the right place to gut the Knight. Jinta’s sword slashed a rent in the Black Knight’s armor, but it was empty inside. The Knight bashed Jinta in the head with its shield and jumped away. With the distance between them, Jinta sheathed his estoc, replacing it with the talisman from his belt.

As Seiko watched, and listened, Jinta receited a fairly long incantation as the Black Knight charged forward. Jinta didn’t dodge, or even appear worried. Instead, he finished with emphasis on the last words of his miracle, thrusting the talisman forward as if it would scare away the Knight.

“Wrath of the Gods!”

There was a blinding white flash and an explosion of magic that had Seiko shielding her eyes. The Black Knight was blown back, but quickly gained its feet again and charged in. Jinta drew his estoc while the Knight was down and now began dodging about again. The Black Knight’s axe was powerful, and it could swing with a speed no human could match while wielding such a large weapon, but it was still too slow to catch Jinta. Jinta kept a keen eye on his opponent, ducking, dodging, stepping this way and that, and always sneaking in a strike with his long estoc. A slash, a stab, a quick hop back, a hop in for another stab, and finally his moment came. The tireless Knight raised its axe high for a heavy strike and Jinta stood his ground. The Knight swung down, its heavy blade aimed for Jinta’s head.

It was here Seiko would learn of Jinta’s weapon’s divine properties. Already, she’d seen his weapons leave thin white trails in the air as they swept through the dark, and here she expected Jinta to break his thin sword in an attempt to redirect such massive force, but the opposite occurred. Jinta angled his estoc, deflecting the blow and stepping to the side slightly, so that the Black Knight missed and his axe slammed into the bone-riddled ground. Jinta reversed his grip on his falchion, stabbed the Knight high in the chest, and ripped the blade down between its legs and out. White mist sprayed from the Knight and it fell, crumbling away to nothing.

\--

“You didn’t tell me that magic protected your weapons too,” said Seiko.

“I was surprised to learn of it as well,” said Jinta. “If you’ll humor me, though…”

He held out his falchion to her. She took it, and right away the faint aura around it faded. With a flick, Jinta smacked his estoc into the sharpened blade of the falchion, knocking a visible chip in it.

“The blessing only works in the hands of someone with proper faith. These weapons are as useful in combat as they are a reminder that I have talents that can push me on. They’re proof I can be useful, and they give me confidence I didn’t have when I first started this journey. May I?”

He took the falchion back from Seiko, used a small pinch of repair powder from a pouch on his belt, and nodded toward their way forward.

“Shall we?”

Seiko followed. They wandered through the dark cavern for a while before coming to a section that narrowed but let in sunlight from above. At the end of the narrow path was a massive sarcophagus that had been pushed open. Inside, a black-robed figure worked over a table, surrounded by towering piles of books. The floor of the sarcophagus was mostly covered with very shallow water that had leaked in from above ground, but thanks to the slightly raised edges near the walls, the books were dry, as were the figure’s feet.

Seiko and Jinta surveyed the room, but there was no way down other than to jump from where they were, though there was a ladder on the far side.

“Of course, we have no choice but to investigate… But first I feel the need to tell you something. There’s another reason I came here first, aside from it playing to my strengths. I was made a Paladin after I agreed to help the Way of White in their mission to retrieve the Rite of Kindling. I was told a powerful sorcerer of some kind had stolen it - a sorcerer strong enough to have stolen power from Gravelord Nito himself. I have the sinking suspicion that we’re looking at the sorcerer in question right now. And it’s made worse by the suspicion that those sent down before me might be what’s on his table down there. Be cautious with this one.”

“I’m not worried. If it makes something, your holy weapons should be able to deal with it. And I’m strong enough with Pyromancy that any spells should be easy enough to deal with.”

She jumped in then, without giving Jinta the chance to respond. He jumped down after her. Their armored feet made plenty of noise hitting the stone floor, and the heap of cloth at the other end finally turned to face them. It held lanterns and tools in each of its six arms, and had three masked faces poking out of its robes. It raised its hands and the flames from the torches around the room flew from their wood and oil purchases to instead inhabit the necromancer’s lanterns. The loud sound of shifting stone and the turning shadows signaled the closing of the giant coffin. The lanterns went out and suddenly all was dark.

Seiko lifted her right arm and lit it, but found that her light didn’t reach nearly as far as it should. The smothering darkness was drowning even her blue flames.

“Seiko?”

She turned - face to face with the necromancer. A blast of magic threw her back into the water, putting out her flame.

Jinta could hear the combat, but couldn’t see past the end of his own weapons. He walked carefully toward the sound, his boots hitting the shallow water. As he approached, the necromancer came into view. Jinta crossed his swords as the necromancer raised its arms, and its magic pulse met the blessing on his blades. Jinta was shoved back, but unharmed. He rushed forward and slashed, but the necromancer fled quickly. All Jinta managed was a cut in the enemy’s robe, revealing a form that had far too many ribs and bones interwoven to be human.

Seiko was up and saw the trail that Jinta’s sword left in the air. She ran toward it.

“It’s me!” she declared ahead of time, to avoid startling him.

“There you are! This thing is an Undead like us. If I can get the chance to strike, I should be able to take him down without too much trouble. It just won’t stay still.”

“If I go all out with my Pyromancy, will you be able to find it and kill it?”

“Either we find it and kill it, or it’s going to keep sneaking up on us and wear us down. Do what you need to.”

“You might need this,” said Seiko. She whipped her Gold-hemmed Robes off her shoulders to hand to him.

Jinta sheathed his Estoc and took them. “Are you sure?”

“I told you I’m not good with control. Those robes will shield you in case you get in the way.”

“Get in th-”

Seiko lashed her arms out and summoned two Fire Whips. She swept the room in front of her with them, lighting piles of books and the operating table on fire. Where her flames drew too near the water, steam issued into the air. She didn’t hit the necromancer, so, obviously, it must be behind them. Seiko whirled, Jinta ducked and ran to the other side of her, and Seiko swept that side of the sarcophagus as well. Nothing.

“Did it just run away and trap us in here?!” she yelled.

Jinta was blasted in the back by a large fireball and stumbled forward. He flogged his back with the robes in his left hand, putting out the residual flames. Seiko spun past him, lashing out with her whips in that direction. Her flames were parted by fire from the necromancer, so she pulled back and whipped both straight forward into a spiraling blast. The necromancer dodged, lanterns lighting and shooting smaller fireballs. Seiko’s flames dissipated as she and Jinta dodged. Then, as they watched, there was almost an optical illusion as the necromancer split into two. Both weaved their arms and lanterns in strange patterns, each projecting a large fireball at the pair.

Seiko stood between the two fireballs and Jinta, held out her hands, and snapped a Great Combustion with each hand to block the volley. Before the blue and orange flames could fade, Seiko’s hands were together, palms forward, shooting a Fire Surge across the chamber. Both necromancers dodged and split again. This time, however, one copy was immediately cut down by Jinta. He had run around the edges of the pool of water to sneak up on the enemy while it was distracted. The remaining three all vanished suddenly.

Seiko growled her frustration, her breathing heavy but steady. Four copies reappeared in the corners of the room. Their lanterns cut through the darkness, unlike Seiko’s flame, casting her shadow in four directions.

“Jinta! The robes!”

She raised her hands, summoning spiraling fireballs with both before kneeling to slam her palms into the water. A short delay and the pillars of Firestorm began to erupt all around the chamber. Jinta shielded himself, back to the wall, but kept an eye on the four copies. Three were quickly burned away, leaving the real one across the chamber.

“It’s that one!” he yelled. He dropped the robes, drew his talisman, and hurled a Lightning Spear at it. His bolt struck, shattering the illusion and revealing the copy to be the original, sheared robe and all. It retaliated with a fireball, and Jinta bent to snatch up the robe and block. Just barely, he was able to fling the robe in the way and block the fireball, but when the robes settled in his grip and he could see clearly, his vision was full of bones and metal. The necromancer had teleported again, across the room. This close, the lanterns were all around Jinta, and he couldn’t block all the fireballs at once. The necromancer pelted him with smaller flames from each of its lanterns until he was ash on the floor, faded away and returned to a bonfire.

Seiko, meanwhile, was trying to recover from using her strengthened Firestorm. She stood, holding up better than she expected to, but her limbs felt heavy and she was lightheaded nonetheless. The necromancer held out its lanterns and started shooting fireballs, small ones, very rapidly. Seiko dodged as best she could, using Combustion as a shield here and there if she was too slow, until a fireball hit her in her left ankle. She pitched face-first into the water, and the stone floor beneath. She didn’t get up.

\--

When Seiko reformed at the bonfire, she saw Jinta sitting nearby waiting. Her robes were still in his hand. She snatched them away, put them over her shoulders and pulled up the hood to hide her face, and immediately ran out of the room and down the stairs.

“Hey! Wait!” said Jinta, who popped up to chase her.

“That was the sorcerer I’m supposed to hunt down! Pinwheel, a necromancer who stole power from Nito himself! Pinwheel probably has the Rite as well. We can’t just rush into this!”

Seiko was mildly surprised to see him keeping up, but she didn’t respond. When they reached the sarcophagus again, it was still sealed.

“You’re a cleric, right?”

“Well, a Paladin now, but I can do the job of-”

“Can you heal magical exhaustion?”

Jinta paused in silence, both at the interruption and the question posed.

“Estus can’t heal magical exhaustion. If I don’t use Pyromancy, fights would last a lot longer and I’m not exactly durable. But using Pyromancy for fights with these more powerful enemies drains me a lot faster. If you can’t heal magical exhaustion, I won’t be using Pyromancy for this next fight… Because I need to use it to open this thing.”

“I have one miracle that I think can, but it’s not something I can use often.”

“What, the wonderful gods don’t want to help too much?”

“The miracles have to work through someone. Believe it or not, I can suffer from magical exhaustion as well, but mine works differently. If I use too many miracles too quickly, it can be a risk to my mind more than my body like you. It’s a story of madness I’ve heard told too many times to take lightly, so my more powerful miracles are ones I reserve for times of great need. Things like Force, however, carry very little risk due to their simplicity, so I can use them more often.”

“But you can help, right?”

“Only once, for this fight.”

“Then I’ll open the coffin, but I won’t be using flames nearly as much this time.”

“How exactly-”

Jinta suddenly found himself smothered by heat and unable to speak. He flinched away from Seiko, who was now so hot he couldn’t even keep his eyes open or breathe. He could hear stone shifting, but all he could do was hold his breath and reflectively try to shield his face with his left arm.

Seiko pushed the lip of the coffin with all her might, using Power Within as high as she dared to. She managed to open enough space to jump back in and immediately let up, backing away from the opening and releasing Power Within. Her backing away turned into her legs giving out and landing on her butt on stone. She broke out in a cold sweat that quickly evaporated, creating a light mist about her.

Jinta felt the heat die away so he looked back to where Seiko had been. He didn’t see her, turned to look back and found her on the ground.

“What was- No, wait. Healing first.”

Jinta knelt beside her, talisman in hand, and recited a new miracle. The passages Seiko could catch spoke of scenes of a gentle, golden sunrise, and the passage of time through a life lived satisfied. Unlike the other miracles he’d used, Seiko could feel this one’s effects throughout his casting, growing stronger the longer he went on. When he finished, there was a glow that had begun emanating from him that reached a peak brightness before fading away. Seiko not only felt refreshed after her use of Power Within, but she felt stronger than she ever had. Well rested, on top of it all. Rather than contented, however, she felt the newfound energy spur her to action, unhindered by the fury she’d experienced only moments earlier.

They both stood up.

“What… Was that…?”

“That was Soothing Sunlight, a miracle taught to me by the Queen herself when I met her. Oddly enough, she refused to demonstrate it, so I don’t know exactly how well mine works compared to the real thing, but if it helped you nearly as much as it helped me in the past, I imagine it’s still very potent.”

“Potent is a word for it, yes.”

“Ready to try again? If the damn thing is even still in there.”

\--

Without any more conversation, Seiko walked forward and jumped in. Jinta followed only a second later and the sarcophagus sealed behind them.

All was quiet. Jinta took a step to shift stance, swords drawn.

“Quiet. Don’t move.”

Seiko saying that almost made Jinta want to hold his breath.

All was quiet again.

The silence yawned open, the dark settled in, and in the blink of an eye, Seiko was gone. In the next instant, Jinta heard an inhuman wail of pain accompanying the sound of thick bones snapping. There was a frantic crying and all at once Jinta could see by the light of flailing lanterns and flying fireballs. Seiko was across the room throwing punches and kicks in a storm of limbs, chasing down the necromancer who, for some reason, wasn’t teleporting away. It definitely wasn’t an illusion; Seiko’s hits landed several times, each time crunching bones and dislocating some of the many joints under Pinwheel’s robe.

Jinta watched the flow of battle and stood back, shifting around this way and that to prepare to capitalize should Pinwheel falter or try to run. Sure enough, Seiko took another quick step forward, ever pursuing, and landed a heavy blow. Jinta noticed a trail of mist behind her, using that same mysterious strength that had let her move the enormous slab above them. With that blow, Pinwheel was bowled over, rolling back a bit too quick for Seiko to instantly rush down. In that moment of breathing room, Pinwheel vanished.

Copies appeared and attacked, but Seiko was far too fast for them now. Her new approach had her down two illusions before any of them could even properly attack. Instead of trying to follow her movement, difficult enough as it was, Jinta kept an eye out for the real Pinwheel. He used the flat of his falchion to block a small fireball, but was otherwise ignored in favor of Seiko. Copies were appearing as quickly as she could down them, but still no luck.

Finally, Jinta spotted Pinwheel. It was nearly laying down and behind the table it had been working on, lanterns out, orchestrating its illusions and leading Seiko in her frenzy. Jinta sheathed his falchion and drew his talisman in his right hand. Without any warning or announcement, he hurled a Lightning Spear at Pinwheel. His throw angle was high, so the table was struck instead, exploding into sawdust and splinters where the bolt struck and catching fire.

Seiko, mid step, twisted on the tips of her toes, her whole body contributing to the action like a cat in midair, and dashed toward the startled necromancer. The flowering splashes from her footsteps hadn’t even settled before she punted the desk up over Pinwheel, shattering it against the back wall and sending books showering into the room. Pinwheel shrieked, again in a near-human voice, but couldn’t move fast enough to avoid Seiko’s attack. Seiko brought her left arm down in a hammerfist, little finger nearer to the floor, thumb folded and on top, using the hard bone of her arm, from elbow to wrist, to smash Pinwheel in two.

Far less graceful than a sword, and in no way a clean cut, Seiko slashed her arm through bone after bone in less than a second, all accompanied by a furious grunt of effort. With Pinwheel’s form ruined, it couldn’t gain the composure to counter before Seiko cast Combustion inside it, lighting its robe aflame. She didn’t stop there, lost in another fit of anger.

“I hate-”

She smashed more bones with her right arm.

“-Stupid things-”

She tore away the rest of Pinwheel’s robe.

“-That won’t hold still!”

Abyss stabbed from the gaps in her armor and through Pinwheel in various places. Seiko ripped her arms apart, in the process yanking the Abyss and all the bones it was attached to in many directions, leaving Pinwheel an unrecognizable heap of bones. With it dead, the torches around the room relit, but the lid of the sarcophagus didn’t move.

\--

Jinta approached with skepticism, weapons still drawn. Seiko was still seething over the body of their enemy.

“Are you alright?”

The Abyss retreated back into her armor and she fell to her knees, eyes wide, out of breath.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

No response.

“I’m sure the Abyss can’t be a good thing for you to be carrying around after this display. It’s powerful… But were you always like this? This unstable?”

Seiko looked at him without moving her head, suddenly. It was unnerving.

When she’d caught her breath, more or less, Seiko stood, took a deep breath, and responded.

“Have I always been angry? Yes. I’m always angry, somewhere deep down. Not too many things bring that out of me, but one of them is trying to pursue something that keeps running away. That goes for arguments and fights. If I’m trying to debate with someone and they blow me off, for example. Or if I’m trying to catch some stupid-”

She kicked a bone fragment.

“-Necromancer that killed me before. But you might be right that the Abyss is making it worse. I don’t know.”

“If you know what sets you off, perhaps it would be best if you started trying to avoid letting them do so. It’ll get you killed more oft-”

“I don’t need you lecturing me, believe it or not. Maybe I’m just not in a place to be worried about my personality issues when I’m more concerned with progress and survival.”

A pause.

“And, as it so happens, we Undead need a strong will to maintain ourselves across deaths. My vengeful streak helps.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Jinta, sincerely. “Now how can we get out of here? I’d hate to have made it this far and be unable to deliver the Rite or save the others down here.”

“Depends. Can you carry me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Because I can probably use Power Within again to move the lid so we can use that ladder.”

She pointed to it.

“Power Within? Is that what you call that technique you were using?”

“It’s a form of Pyromancy. It can kill me. It can make me many times stronger than normal, is a lot harder to control than you might think, and has the side effect of generating a lot of heat.”

“I noticed that much. I’m shocked you can survive the heat, let alone the strain on your body. You’re asking me if I can carry you because you think you won’t be able to move after freeing us, then?”

“Basically.”

Jinta walked over, bent to put his shoulder on Seiko’s stomach, grabbed around her waist, and tried to straighten and throw her over his shoulder. His legs nearly gave out, more because of the armor than her whether he knew or not, but he could walk after adjusting to the extra weight. He set her down.

“We probably won’t make it far… But I can do it.”

“It’s either that or use that miracle again. Either way, I’m our way out, so follow me…”


	24. Chapter 24

**-Tomb of The Giants-**

Jinta set Seiko down next to the wall of the cave. She was unconscious as expected from all her efforts. Jinta faced the problem before him: two glowing white eyes in the darkness. Someone had laid prism stones to mark the path, but aside from their light, Jinta couldn’t see further than the tip of his falchion in the smothering black. But those eyes pierced through.

Jinta approached, closer and closer, estoc and falchion at the ready. Just as he could make out a rib cage and lower jaw, the figure lurched forward, blade like a guillotine swinging down. Jinta took a quick step back, just out of reach, and the blade slammed into the stone floor. Rock chips pinged off Jinta’s helmet as he stepped in and crossed his swords through the giant skeleton wielding the blade. Like before, bones shattered like they were made of porcelain and the skeleton fell to pieces.

Jinta went back to retrieve Seiko.

\--

After a lot of stop and go, Jinta found himself struggling to push on. There was one more prism stone ahead. Jinta approached it and nearly pitched over a cliff. He looked down and saw a necromancer’s lantern lighting the ground somewhere in the neighborhood of five meters down.

A boot was planted firmly in Jinta’s back and he was sent sailing down to that same floor, Seiko still over his shoulder. He heard familiar and derisive laughter from up above.

\--

“Ya know,” said Tetsuro, from right next to Patches in the pitch dark.

Patches shrieked and held up his shield, hopping back and nearly falling off a cliff in the process. Tetsuro had come out of nowhere, silent even in his heavy armor.

“Skulking around in a place like this with the path so clearly marked will make people think you’re up to something.”

“You! You’re the one from before. You tried to kill me!”

“Sorry about that,  _ friend _ . This time I’ll succeed.”

Patches took a stab at Tetsuro, but found that Tetsuro’s iron shield wasn’t for show. Tetsuro parried the stab, stepped in, and yanked Patches’ shield forward to bring the baldheaded trickster into a full-on headbutt. Metal Elite Knight Helmet to bare forehead and Patches was nearly out cold in one move. In the next move, Tetsuro slamming the lip of his shield into Patches’ throat, Patches couldn’t breathe. And in the next, a Black Iron boot to his chest, Patches was sent sailing over the cliff to his death.

“I’ve fought skeletons down here more fearsome than you,” said Tetsuro to the empty air.

He turned and went on his way.

\--

“-here. Don’t move, and make sure she stays put too.”

It was Jinta’s voice. Everything was dark, but there was a warm light nearby. Very warm…

_ Wait, how long has it been…? _

Clashing metal rang out. So dark. But there’s that warmth.

_ If I’m so strong, why is it so hard to open my eyes? _

A blistering wave of magic sent goosebumps over Seiko’s body, and a chill down her spine. She opened heavy-lidded eyes, to find herself in a dark cave slumped across from a maiden in white. The woman had her hands over her ears and was trembling in fear. Seiko struggled to lift her head, but only succeeded in lulling it to the left. In the black, she could make out dizzying movement. Three people, probably men.

“Jinta…?”

Suddenly the scene in the dark was clear, and Seiko could see Jinta fighting a two on one battle against Hollows. Well equipped, armored Hollows who knew what they were doing with their weapons. As she watched, Jinta dodged a few strikes before a coordinated attack ended in him taking a back-handed swing from the mace of one Hollow. Jinta stumbled back, closer to Seiko, and she was able to make out more detail. He was soaked in blood, and he’d lost his Estus Flask in the fight. Seiko had doubts it was all his blood, but given the dents in his armor and the slashed fabric revealing some of his mail underneath, it was safe to assume he wasn’t winning.

Jinta held his ground, weapons out to the sides, angled up and toward his enemies. He was heaving great breaths. The Hollow with the mace stepped in and swung high. Jinta deflected the blow with his estoc, stepped in, slashed with his falchion while spinning, and kicked the Hollow in the head. It fell over backwards, but in the opening Jinta barely had time to bring up his estoc to block another attack. The other Hollow used an axe with a very long handle, almost a halberd, and the blade bit into Jinta’s right shoulder.

Jinta’s right arm went limp and dropped his falchion, but he kicked his attacker in the chest and stumbled away before any worse happened. Closer still to Seiko and the priestess. Seiko couldn’t move a muscle. Her body felt like it was made of stone and fused with the wall behind her. All she could do was watch, and she was so tired she couldn’t even muster recognizable emotion at what she saw.

Jinta sheathed his estoc and pulled out his talisman. He dodged another slash from the short halberd, stepped in and to the right, hoping to draw attention away from Seiko and the priestess. Seiko couldn’t help but remember watching Tetsuro do something similar. The other Hollow had gotten up, and the two watched Jinta with caution, slowly inching forward. The second they heard him utter a single word, they flew into a frenzy to interrupt him. Jinta dodged their swings and slid a foot into one of theirs. One Hollow fell into the other and they tumbled to the ground.

Jinta took a few quick steps to get between the Hollows and his charges again, then recited Medium Heal. From there, he recited  Tranquil Walk of Peace, anchoring his foes just as they got up. Next, he raised a hand, pointing his right index finger to the sky. As quick as his other prayers, he said one more, but louder, and with much more confidence.

“Remember The Warrior of a foreign land and foreign God, chased by Death, who looked into the face of Valor.

Remember The Warrior who faced legends before legends, who drowned in wolf’s blood, wretched and weak. 

And beware The Warrior yet to come, born in Fire and Dark, who peers into the Unknown! 

For He will  _ Smite! _ ”

A spark of light blinked into existence above Jinta where he pointed. From that light a ray of white magic shined down on the two Hollows. All at once, the light went out and Jinta sagged. The two Hollows had been scorched by the light and fell over dead. Jinta picked up his falchion to sheath it and staggered over, collapsing into a slumped seated position next to Seiko. He was out of breath, and had a hand on the side of his helmet, like he was trying to hold it together.

“What miracle was that?” asked the priestess.

Seiko heard her, but Jinta just groaned. To him, it was all muffled noise. His head felt like it would split open, and most of his wounds were still present. Without Estus, and after using so many miracles, he’d just have to live with his new scars. It wasn’t long before he passed out.

\--

It took a few hours, but eventually both Seiko and Jinta recovered enough to hold a conversation.

“Paladin,” said the priestess.

“Jinta, please. And you are?”

“My name is Rhea. My deepest thanks for… For saving me and laying Vince and Nico to rest. I’m sure they are grateful, as I am. But what miracle was it that you used? I’ve never heard it before.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Sir, our lives revolve around faith with less to go on than the power you displayed.”

“Fair enough. An angel taught it to me in my travels.”

Rhea was quiet a moment.

“It is difficult to believe that, yes,” she said after a while. “What does it mean?”

“I’m not sure. Obviously the middle warrior is Knight Artorias - ‘faced legends,’ ‘drowned in wolf’s blood?’ - but I have no clue who the other two could be. And obviously the ‘He’ at the end is the first warrior’s foreign god.”

“Can you say it again?” asked Seiko.

Jinta repeated the lines.

“I think you’re wrong,” she said confidently.

“How so?”

“I think the He at the end ties it all together. The lines all refer to the same person. What does the miracle do?”

“It’s meant to be used against Hollows, and it’s extremely powerful, but it’s also just as taxing as Wrath of the Gods or Soothing Sunlight.”

“A miracle for smiting the Undead? About a great warrior? That’s odd.”

“It’s not so unusual,” said Rhea. “Many miracles have stories that are hard to interpret, but their effects are readily visible.”

“She’s right,” said Jinta. “In any case, whatever it means, use caution if you intend to teach it to others. A miracle like it in the wrong hands can be very dangerous.”

“Of course. I won’t be teaching it to anyone who isn’t at least on your level of status.”

“I told you before, I was only named Paladin for coming down here after you. Judge based on character, not title. Please.”

“I’ll take your advice, then, Jinta. I will stay behind to give Vince and Nico their last rites, then I will return to Firelink. Thank you again.”

Jinta stood, with difficulty, and had to help Seiko up.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t speak more, Pyromancer Seiko. You must be very important to Paladin Jinta.”

Seiko looked at Jinta as she leaned on him, still too weak to walk on her own.

_ Am I? I thought we were just working together… _

“I wouldn’t have made it in time without her,” admitted Jinta. “Now we need to find our way out of here. If only there were a bonfire nearby.”

“Your Estus flask…” said Seiko.

“Right,” said Jinta. He let Seiko down near the wall again and went to retrieve it. When he turned to help her up again she was on her feet, uneasy, but standing.

“Let’s get moving,” she said. “We have a job to do, after all.”

“There may be more enemies ahead. Let’s follow the wall. Stay close, but stay behind me so I can deal with the Undead in the way.”

“I can’t use my torch. No Pyromancy until we can find a bonfire. Sorry.”

“It wouldn’t make a difference down here anyway. This is Nito’s light-swallowing domain.”

“Be careful on your way,” said Rhea.

\--

“Is that a bonfire?” said Seiko, pointing.

“No doubt!” said Jinta, quietly. “That explains why I didn’t see it before. I had tunnel vision by the time I got here the first time… But keep quiet. Patches might still be nearby. He’s how we ended up down there.”

In the dark, Seiko’s glowing eyes allowed Jinta to see the look of contempt on Seiko’s face, almost appearing unamused.

The two dropped down to the ledge with the bonfire and rested a while at last.

“The fire looks strange down here, without the usual halo of light,” said Seiko.

“Now that we’re in this darkness, Nito shouldn’t be far. We need to keep an eye out for Patches first, then Nito. The skeletons in the way won’t be an issue as long as I’m here.”

Seiko just regained her look of contempt and reached out to the fire. Jinta watched a silvery stream of souls move from her to the flame, and watched the flame reward her with strength in return.

_ I suppose even she can use soul infusion. To think that she can grow more powerful… Is terrifying after all I’ve seen… _

Seiko stood when she was done, fist clenched. She lit it aflame and swept it aside, putting the fire out.

“I’m good to go, ready when you are.”

“Of course. Try not to push yourself so hard next time.”

“This coming from the guy who nearly drove himself mad using miracles? How about you leave my tactics to me?”

“I’m just concerned a-”

Seiko jumped up to the ledge above and leaned down, offering a hand to help Jinta up. She yanked him up easily and the two moved forward. Jinta walked beside her until she held her hand in his way. The same hand then touched an index finger to her temple and pointed into the dark. A pained groan sounded and something hobbled forward. It was Patches.

“You!” said Jinta, weapons out.

But Patches didn’t have his weapons drawn. His spear and shield were on his back, and he looked like he were in great pain, a grimace plastered on his face. His steps were shaky, his fists were clenched, and he was starting to sweat.

“What…” started Jinta, before he looked at Seiko, who was still pointing.

“What are you doing to him? Is this still Pyromancy?”

Seiko herself had a pained expression, but it was one more of mild discomfort, like walking with a rock in your boot.

“S-sh-she’s a… Witch! A C-c-c-chaos Witch!” struggled Patches. He had stopped walking forward, but his legs were shaking.

“So you are doing this… And I’m guessing it’s not easy. Well, you can stop. I’m not going to kill a helpless man.”

“Oh, th-thank you! P-please, please f-f-f-forgive me! I-if you let me g-go, I p-promise I can reward… You…”

Seiko yanked her hand back and Patches lurched forward, but appeared to be released. The man had no sooner breathed a sigh of relief than coughed blood onto the floor. With difficulty, Jinta spotted the Abyss jutting from the gaps in her gauntlet and into Patches’ chest. She recalled the Abyss and walked over to Patches, who collapsed to the floor. She bent down and made sure all the Abyss had returned, then straightened and looked at Jinta.

“Let’s go.”

Jinta was speechless. He could still heal Patches, who had technically apologized. It was the right thing to do. Patches hadn’t even had the chance to fight back, after all.

“Stop turning the gears in your head and let’s go. Leave him. Or did you forget about the bodies down there? And your friends from the Way of White? And us?”

“We could have at least talked to him.”

“Why? Because he apologized? If I used Rapport on you, provided it even worked on you, wouldn’t you do anything you could to get control of your body back? If he were sorry, he wouldn’t have consistently killed or tried to kill people. If you heal him, I’ll trap you, and next time I’ll make sure he suffers a lot more than just bleeding out in the dark. Let’s. Go.”

Jinta followed after her as she walked along the wall to find the way forward.

“So that  _ was _ Pyromancy.”

“It’s called Rapport, and it’s supposed to impose the user’s will on the target. With Hollows and the like, they can be made into allies, since they are broken. Anyone else and I’d be lucky to get them to take a step. It helped that I got the drop on him and that he was horrified.”

“So someone with a strong will can ignore it?”

“Completely.”

Two heavy footsteps sounded in front of them before a deformed skeleton came into view, about to attack. Jinta stepped up, put a hand on his talisman while it was still on his belt, and used Force to repel it, then drew his blades while the enemy was down. A few swift strikes and it fell apart, but not before displaying erratic movements.

“I don’t know what that is, but I hope there aren’t more of them,” said Jinta. He kept his swords drawn as the continued, and he took the fore. Another of the deformed skeletons was nearby, in the way. At the twang of a large bow-string, the thing flailed forward. Jinta dodged back, cleaving an arm off his foe as he did so. A huge arrow hit the ground where he’d been standing and bounced off the stone, clattering away.

Seiko threw a Fireball in the direction of the arrow. She missed, but the attack passed close enough to briefly reveal a skeleton archer. She dashed away into the dark, leaving Jinta to finish off the deformed skeleton.

Jinta slashed back-handed with his falchion at the enemy’s other arm just as it attacked, stepped in, and stabbed it through the head with his estoc. He looked around for Seiko, but didn’t see her. He heard bones snapping and some clattering, so he walked slowly in that direction. When he came upon Seiko, she had just started looking for him.

The two continued downward and came to a fork in the path that took them along the cliff in either direction.

“The right looks like it slants down. And there’s noise to the left. I vote right,” said Jinta.

“Agreed,” said Seiko.

They took a few steps to the right and suddenly heard rushing metal footsteps.

“Back! Back!” said Jinta, already backing away and trying to return to the incline they’d come from. When he saw Seiko turn to follow, he turned as well. They both ran back up to the previous level where there was more space to fight. In trying to find a clear area, however, they ran right into another deformed skeleton. It attacked immediately, drawing Jinta’s attention.

Seiko turned and swept a brief Fire Whip out, letting the fan of flames light the ground ahead. Something stepped through the flames without fear, large and clad in black. Seiko recognized it as a Black Knight as it swung its halberd down at her. She dashed aside, then dashed in and punched the Knight under the ribs. It staggered and swung its halberd back-handed at Seiko, then punched with its shield. The shield connected, bowling Seiko over and knocking the wind out of her.

In a storm of blades, Jinta was able to defeat the skeleton by then. He turned to look for the new enemy and Seiko, but saw neither. He held his ground in the sudden silence, straining his eyes. Suddenly he didn’t need to strain, as a flash of blue and black flames showed him everything. Seiko snapped out a Great Combustion in the way of a strike to block it, the physical flame blowing back the Knight’s guard but doing little in the way of harm.

Jinta ran forward and stabbed the Knight in the back with both blades, then ripped them out to the sides. The Black Knight let out an ethereal scream, relatively low in pitch, and turned on Jinta with a swipe of its shield. Jinta jumped back out of the way and spun his estoc in his hand as a taunt. The Black Knight spun its halberd over its head, then slashed with it toward Jinta’s neck. Jinta ducked and deflected the blow with his estoc, slashing at the Knight’s arm with his falchion.

The black halberd thunked to the ground, but the Knight was still fighting. It lashed out a kick behind it as it heard Seiko move in, hitting her full in the face and knocking her over. It spun quickly and moved to slam its shield down on her. Jinta quickly lopped off the other arm and the shield fell over the cliff nearby. The Knight paused a second, a bit uneven on its feet, then fell forward onto its knees, roared out its life, and vanished into a white mist.

\--

Seiko rolled over onto her hands and knees, then put one hand over her face, blood flowing freely through her fingers.

“Here, Estus,” said Jinta, holding it out.

Seiko pushed herself to her feet, dizzy, and took the flask. She took a quick drink and handed it back. She regrew some teeth and her nose snapped back into place. She coughed after the sudden changes, scrunching up her face.

“What was that thing even doing down here?” she asked, rhetorically.

_ She might want its weapon. It’s pretty heavy and probably requires some skill to use. Sounds right up her alley, for once. _

Jinta paused, looking for it.

_ I… Could have sworn it fell right here. Did I kick it? _

“Let’s not waste time trying to look for a black weapon in the dark,” said Seiko, noticing.

“Right…”

They continued on their way…


	25. Chapter 25

**-Tomb of The Giants-**

“Stop,” said Jinta, suddenly.

“What? Why?”

Seiko followed where Jinta was looking to see another Undead in Paladin armor staring out off the cliff. In the distance was gray mist, black water, and trees so large that they threw off depth perception.

“I thought you only came down here to save three people.”

“I did. I have a bad feeling.”

The Undead stood up and took up its weapon, shield already on its arm. The weapon looked like a large rock with a long handle fused to it. The Undead approached along the cliff at a walk, vision fixed on Seiko and Jinta.

“I think that’s Paladin Leeroy. If I remember right, his abilities are like mixing your strength and my miracles. I doubt he’s got our finesse, so we’ll be better off avoiding a direct conflict. There are two of us and one of him. Treat him with respect, don’t get hit, and we should be ok.”

As Leeroy got close, he put up his shield and started taking more balanced steps. Seiko stayed behind Jinta, but she had a plan already. When Jinta started forward, Seiko followed him. When the two seemed like they would clash, Seiko lept over them both and landed behind Leeroy, facing him. While Jinta avoided getting crushed and tried to find an opening, Seiko used Rapport again. Leeroy stopped after a swing and started shaking, trying to resist. His right leg was slowly sliding toward the edge of the cliff not so far away.

All of a sudden, Leeroy was freed. He focused his power into his weapon, a hunk of iron called Grant, and a magical explosion blew away Jinta and broke Seiko’s concentration. Leeroy shifted his grip on Grant and spun to his right, swinging Grant out over the gap. He aimed to drive Seiko into the wall, but she jumped again. This time, though, she drove a boot into Leeroy’s helmet. They both tumbled to the ground and over the side of the cliff.

Seiko reached out with the Abyss to latch onto the cliff. Leeroy latched onto her leg.

“Seiko! Are you crazy?!” said Jinta from above.

“Be right there,” said Seiko, flatly.

She activated Power Within, scalding Leeroy’s hands in seconds. Leeroy lost grip and fell to his death.

Seiko pulled herself back up onto the path and made sure the Abyss had all joined her. She removed her gauntlets to check her arms. She had patches of skin missing and was starting to bleed. Her hands started shaking.

“Estus, please.”

Jinta recited Heal instead. Seiko’s skin healed up and she put her gauntlets back on.

“No lecture?”

“If you didn’t have the Abyss, that would have been a death. Even I have to admit that. Some missing skin and a prayer sounds better than losing Humanity.”

A pause.

“Alternatively, you could have just let me fight him and thrown a Fireball at his back.”

Seiko stared vacantly into space.  
“Hindsight, eh? You need to come back to Earth, ya know? You’re powerful, yes, and immortal in a way, but you don’t need to be reckless or use your full power on every little thing.”

Seiko sighed. “There’s the lecture.”

Jinta stammered for a second, about to defend himself.

“But,” said Seiko, “You’re right. Sorry.”

Now it was Jinta who sighed. “Don’t mention it. Now let’s get going.”

\--

“Pinwheel?” said Jinta, quietly.

“There’s more than one. How?” said Seiko.

“Does it matter? They look smaller, though. Hopefully they’re weaker than the one we fought, or we’re in trouble.”

Seiko stood out of the shadow of the bones they’d been hiding behind, hands aglow with flame.

“I’ll go in first and make a scene. You can flank them while they’re distracted, like you did before a few times.”

“If you’re going to make a habit out of making yourself bait, don’t you think a shield would be a good idea?”

“I can use physical Pyromancy to block ranged attacks, and I’m fast enough and strong enough to deal with close range attacks. I’d rather have both hands free to use Pyromancy.”

“Fair enough. I’ll follow along, then. Whenever you’re ready.”

He drew his swords.

Seiko ran forward into the open, throwing a Fireball at the nearest Pinwheel. Caught off guard, the Pinwheel didn’t dodge in time and was struck by the Fireball. The flames burned away its robes and masks, cracking its bones. Seiko was already focused on another target, throwing fire left and right, doing her best to control the size and strength of her attacks and save her stamina. All at once, the chamber was awash with flames from all sides. Seiko took to focusing on dodging rather than attacking. Her head swept left and right, her feet moved deftly, and in brief gaps she threw Fireballs.

Just as planned, Jinta ran in second, during the crossfire, and cut down Pinwheel after Pinwheel. Lucky for Seiko, these Pinwheels were weaker than the “real” one they’d fought earlier. By the time Jinta was able to thin the group, Seiko had covered herself with her gold-hemmed robes and was simply side-stepping attacks instead of flipping about and wasting energy. In a glimpse of her, Jinta realized what a real Daughter of Chaos must look like. A deity of flame, many times stronger even than Seiko. It was a horrifying distraction that he quickly pushed from his mind.

In moments, it was over. Jinta was hardly tired at all, while Seiko was out of breath and covered in a cold sweat from oxygen starvation. As soon as there was no more threat, she collapsed to the ground on her back, sucking in great breaths. Jinta rushed over, swords sheathed.

“You ok? Magical exhaustion?”

“Regu… lar… Exhaus… tion…”

“Estus?”

“Save it…”

“If you say so. This is a Lord we’re dealing with, after all. We can wait here for you to recover. I’ll look around a bit, I guess. Come on, stand up. I’ll sit you by the way forward.”

He helped Seiko over to a rotted ceremonial rug and sat her down at the mouth of the next cave. She focused on breathing, every second fighting to stay awake. She wouldn’t say it, but it was a terrifying experience, like a near-drowning death. Jinta walked away to look around the cavern they were in, and while he was finding useful Titanite and the corpses of other dead warriors of all kinds, Seiko was struggling to stay awake.

It was about that time that Seiko thought she started hallucinating. Tiny skeletons, no larger than babies, started closing in around her, teeth dripping with black blood. In her near unconsciousness, it frightened her intensely. Her already labored breathing quickened, and she tried to call out.

“J-Jin… Ta…”

She sucked in a deep breath. One of the skeletons bit her shin, and she could feel the teeth slice right through her robe, armor, and flesh.

“JINTA!”

The little things crowded around her, sinking their teeth into every part of her, biting deep and then grinding their teeth around. At some point, Jinta appeared and started slashing at them, clearing them away quickly before reciting a healing miracle. Right away, Seiko’s exhaustion left her, and her wounds were healed, but she still felt sick. There was a cold sinking into her body, and her limbs still felt dead.

“I can’t move… Their blood… The blood…”

It was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open. With her face shadowed by her robe’s hood, her veins turning black under her skin went unnoticed. Black veins started spidering over her vision.

She thought she heard Jinta’s concerned voice, but it was like she was underwater and he was above the surface. Everything went dark.

\--

Some time later, Seiko woke up. It was still almost too dark to see, so she was still in the Tomb of the Giants. Jinta was asleep next to her, slumped over a bit, back to the wall like her. They were still just outside the way forward.

Seiko bumped shoulders with Jinta, shaking him a few times that way. He roused suddenly, his head turning left and right to get bearings.

“You’re awake! I made it in time, then… Good. You were poisoned, I guessed, so I used Caressing Prayer. I must have barely made it, because you didn’t wake up, but you didn’t die either. I used another healing miracle to be safe, but when you still didn’t wake up and I couldn’t wake you myself… I was worried you wouldn’t wake up at all, to be honest.”

“Are you ok? Using miracles like that…”

“I told you, it’s not nearly as much of a risk using weaker miracles. Only the most powerful, like Wrath Of The Gods, must be used sparingly. I can only cast Wrath three times in one fight, or use the equivalent in power of other miracles. Any more than that and I’m liable to lose my mind or even Hollow. A few heals and some rest isn’t any trouble at all, especially if it means keeping you from dying.”

“There’s no need to fear death so much…”

“That’s not true.”

“Of course it is. We’re immortal. Anyone with a strong will and hope can die an infinite number of times and always get right back up.”

“I disagree completely.”

Something about the force behind that statement stopped Seiko from disagreeing a second time.

\--

A/N: BRS TV, Precious Things by Hiromi Kikuta

\--

Jinta went on.

“Yes, I know, with Humanity and hope, we can stave off the curse. We can hang on to our memories. But we never forget the pain of death, and our fellows never forget watching us die. We are human. Our ancestors grew up, grew old, lived and died, always entwined with death. They died once. They worried about the where and how of every other human death. Before the curse, death was what tied us all together, even if it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to us. Tortures far beyond death have always existed… But that doesn’t mean it’s ok to just throw your life away, or just brush it off when you die and move on like nothing happened. Death has meaning. You can throw away your death, but you can’t throw away your memory of it, or force others to forget it.”

“I think you just care too much. You invest too much in one life. It’ll Hollow you.”

Jinta stood up. By his stance and sharp motion, Seiko could tell he was furious.

“Yes! I do care too much! And, yes, maybe it will Hollow me! But I’m not going to just throw up my hands and go, ‘Oh, well!’ about it! If you want to pretend that all this pain and suffering is nothing, you go right ahead and wear that mask! I won’t! I will fight until every tooth and nail I have is broken, til my weapons and armor rust, and until my body falls to ash before I’ll let myself die a single time! Humanity, hope, purpose all be damned! I refuse to just throw away something so important as a good death!”

Jinta, worked up in his anger, looked down at Seiko now. She had been looking down, listening. She looked up, piercing sky-blue eyes glowing in the dark cavern, and peered into his helmet’s visor. 

Like she could meet his eyes.

All was still.

The silence split open further and further, yet neither of them moved. Just stared. The only sound was Jinta’s heavy breathing after his shouting.

“Hmph.” Seiko closed her eyes and stood up, then opened them again.

“I’m sure I’ve never met anyone quite like you. You’re not weak, but without me, I bet you would have died several times down here. If not for you, I wouldn’t be down here at all. You’re a good person, but it doesn’t seem like you’re just worried about divine retribution or anything as your motivation. I don’t know what happened to you to make you this way, but you don’t seem like you’ve been to the depth of suffering others may have seen. Maybe you just haven’t suffered enough. But what I can say for sure about you is this…”

She paused, then smiled a bit.

“Never change. Never change and you’ll be a hero someday. Tetsuro could never be anything like that, but you could. Maybe. Someday.”

Her smile and tone had turned from gentle admiration to an almost playful sarcasm at the end.

She turned to the mouth of the next cave, the way forward.

“Now let’s see you make good on those words. A Lord awaits.”


	26. Chapter 26

**-Tomb of The Giants-**

A heavy, metallic thud. Shifting mail and a hint of plate and cloth adjusting.

Again, many more plates shifting this time and almost no cloth at all.

The sound of a burning flame.

_ So this is how I greet a Lord… With unearned arms and an unstable ally… “Unstable ally?” If that’s the first thing that comes to mind, I’m being too pessimistic. She’s stronger than I am, after all, even if she’s got almost no restraint to speak of… And she killed a Lord all alone… Why am I even here- _

_ “…let’s see you make good on those words…” _

And like that the negativity was gone.

Seiko tapped Jinta’s shoulder with the back of her hand. Jinta visibly flinched, snapped back to the current place and time.

Seiko pointed instead of speaking. Just ahead of them, in the gloom, was a massive coffin. From out of the coffin, an even darker something was wafting into the blackness of the cavern. There was a pink flash from his right and suddenly Jinta couldn’t move.

>> _ You will use your lightning from afar. You will leave this fight to me. You will live. You will win.<< _

>> _ You will use your lightning from afar. You will leave this fight to me. You will live. You will win.<< _

It was Seiko’s Rapport. She had to know it wouldn’t actually force him to do anything, but she’d used it on Jinta to communicate almost beyond words at a close distance. Jinta had seen Patches fight against it, struggle like it was painful, but Jinta instead felt every desire to obey. Mostly because he agreed with her will, he guessed. The little light went out and she was gone. She was gone from his mind, but the impression remained, like being grasped by a giant yet not crushed between its fingers. Like she had so much more will and so much more strength to spare, but had only used what was absolutely necessary.

_ So she  _ does  _ have restraint. _

Seiko gathered a Fireball in her hand and threw it, in a high arc, at the top of the coffin. The flame, that would normally reach out and light the room, barely lit the air around itself. As it rose, it revealed the body of Gravelord Nito in the coffin, all the way up to the collection of skulls that surrounded his head, itself also a skull. There was a black miasma settled in the coffin. At last the Fireball struck the lip of the coffin, all the way at the top.

The burst woke Nito, who emerged from the coffin slowly. The miasma turned out to be attached to him, forming a cloak as he came to stand on the damp cave floor.

\--

_ They keep getting up. Stands to reason, then, that Nito himself is keeping them alive. _

Tetsuro drew his Silver Knight Spear and held it near the middle of the shaft. The spear was a blur about him, spinning this way and that to strike the skeletons around him. They shattered at the touch of its blade, which surprised Tetsuro.

_ A blessed weapon even I can use. This thing’s definitely a keeper. _

Tetsuro felt a wave of magic in the air, so he dove aside. He made sure to use his right arm to direct himself, letting the spear lay on the ground in his hand. The ground made contact with his back from his right shoulder to his left hip, and he was up. A glance back revealed he’d been correct to dodge, as a magic sword was jutting from the ground where he’d stood. He blocked a strike from a large skeleton, kicked its knee to the side, then yanked the blade of his spear up between its legs.

Two skeletons were left besides Nito himself. Tetsuro put his shield on his back and used the Silver Knight Spear like the old partizan he’d found a while back. Both hands on the shaft, he made use of both the slashing ability and the stabs one would expect from a spear of such length. A swat with the butt of the spear then a strike with the blade and one skeleton fell. A block with the middle of the shaft, then another sweep with the blade and the other died.

Tetsuro thumped the butt of the spear to the ground, opened his visor for a second, and drank Estus in while he waited for Nito to come around the massive pillar in the room. By the time Nito showed up, he was ready again.

_ Some Lord… I can only assume I’m far above average if so many people have died down here, and to this thing of all things. He’s plodding and slow, even if he does carry toxin so vile it killed dragons. What a joke. _

Tetsuro put away his Silver Knight Spear and drew Murakumo and his shield again. One more clash and it would be over…

\--

Seiko jumped, flipping backward over a skeleton that was running up behind her. She threw two more Fireballs at Nito, then backpeddled away, keeping him in her sight. Jinta was running through the cavern, cutting down skeleton after skeleton to keep them away from Seiko. As it turned out, they were very well suited for this fight. Nito swung at Seiko with his bladed arm and Seiko dodged. Nito gathered his miasma and Seiko used Immolation to burn the air around herself. Nito readied his magic and Seiko dodged about too quickly for it to connect.

Jinta came around earlier than expected and ended up right behind Gravelord Nito. He ran past, dragging his falchion through Nito’s shadowed cloak and cutting into Nito’s hip. Nito slashed at him, and Jinta dove into a roll to avoid the hit. As Jinta came up, Nito made a move to grab him, but Jinta cut right through Nito’s fingers. He cut down the last skeleton and regrouped with Seiko.

“We were worried for nothing. Seems like all this guy is good for is poison and summoning the dead. I can cure poison, and I can permanently ground Undead. We’re both too swift for him to catch, too. Coming here first was the right choice, but I can see why Leeroy would struggle with that huge mace of his.”

“Just stay back and don’t let him catch you off guard. I’ve watched him enough now; he’s not a threat. I wonder if this is how Tetsuro felt fighting people that were far too weak.”

“‘Far too weak?’ He’s a Lord!”

Nito stabbed forward and a cloud of miasma traveled down his sword and toward them. They both dove to the right.

“He’s just big and poisonous. Quelaag was much scarier than he is. I’ll watch him a bit more, then I’ll put an end to this. If you haven’t used too much magic, could you heal me so I can go all out?”

“Let’s go around the center and get out of sight for a second first.”

They both continued to the right where Jinta recited a miracle to refresh Seiko.

“I don’t mean to wound your pride, but please stay back. You’re the one who needs the soul, not me. If I somehow die, I should at least do enough to him to allow you to finish him off without a problem.”

“‘Wound my pride?’ Because you’re a woman about to fight in a man’s place? Seiko, I’ve always been second fiddle in some way or another. Forget any stupid pride I have or anyone else has and just do what you know you should. That’s how I-”

“Move!”

Seiko shoved him back and jumped away. Jinta went tumbling back and smacked his head on a rock, but when he got over the dizziness and looked up, he saw why. Nito had used his magic again to summon swords from the ground, and probably would have killed at least Jinta, who had been kneeling, had Seiko not moved him.

Now she was facing down the giant collection of bones, Fire Whips in each hand. She swung one in a wide arc and lashed it over Nito’s left shoulder. The flames didn’t stick, but they disrupted the miasma surrounding Nito. Nito swung his broken hand through the flames to try and grab Seiko with the stubs of his fingers, but she fell flat to the ground. Palms to the rock, she used Firestorm. She knew how wildly her Firestorm behaved, so she jumped up as the pillars of flame erupted from the ground and leapt at Nito.

Seiko wedged her boots into the skulls surrounding Nito’s head and held on with her left hand. Her right hand’s fingers went rigid, forming the same claw-like strike she’d used several times before. Seiko struck, drove her fingers into Nito’s sockets and mouth, knocked out a few teeth in the process, and implanted her original Pyromancy.

She let go and pushed off, but she hit the ground earlier than she’d thought on her back. It knocked the wind out of her. Nito, meanwhile, had tried to sweep her off his face, but was too late. The implanted flame exploded and Nito staggered back into the wall of the cavern. When the embers cleared, it was plain to see that Nito no longer had a main head, but he wasn’t defeated.

_ He’s at least as durable as the Four Kings were all together. But they melted with hot enough flames, so he should too. I’ve got strength to spare, so let’s try Chaos this time. _

Nito started to recover, but hardly had his balance when the next attack struck. A Great Chaos Fireball from Seiko, famous for heat so intense that it melted boulders. Nito flailed through the flame and lunged at Seiko. The burning miasma that surrounded him appeared in that moment to be a skull, opened wide to swallow her.

Seiko sucked a breath, made up her mind, and punched her fists together in front of her chest with her eyes jammed shut. Power Within and Immolation activated together and a flame flowered from around her feet. It flared up and covered her in a candle-flame-shaped blaze, dazzling white fire with black streaks dancing through it every so often. Nito’s charge stopped and he recoiled. Now the flame was hot enough to melt bone, but it was also the least efficient Pyromancy.

Seiko released both spells, then hit the ground on her hands and knees. She could hear a wind howl that turned into what she could only imagine was Nito screaming in rage at her. Miasma washed over her and, without Immolation to shield her, she was bowled over onto her back. She coughed violently and clutched her throat and chest. Her eyes burned from whatever it was that Nito unleashed. Every inch of her skin felt like it was being ripped away from her.

\--

A/N: BRS TV, Heaven by Hiromi Kikuta

\--

Jinta finished reciting Soothing Sunlight. He stood up and walked to the woman lying on the ground. She was calm for the moment, but it wouldn’t last if he didn’t heal the poison. Jinta recited Caressing Prayer over her, then drew his swords once more.

_ This thing. This thing did it. Nothing else is alive in the room. This giant assortment of bones hurt her. Kill it. Kill it. Remember why you’re here. You are Jinta. Paladin Jinta now. Remember. _

Jinta ran forward, dodged a swing from his enemy, a sword made of bone. He dodged a grab and cut through the arm as it missed. The enemy swept its sword over the ground and Jinta jumped over the attack. He got in close and held his breath. He didn’t know what made him hold his breath, but he held it anyway. He slashed at this thing. Cut through a damaged hip and thick femur. He was too close so his enemy tried to blow him away with miasma.

Jinta almost gasped at the gust of foul air, but he kept himself composed. His stomach pumped involuntarily as his body tried to draw breath. Another slash, this time with his estoc. The enemy had fallen over, but wasn’t dead. It flailed with its bone sword. Jinta went into a frenzy, carving up his enemy. Chips of bone plinked off his helmet.

_ Remember! Remember! I don’t know what, but remember! Don’t die! Kill this thing! Don’t die! No more miracles! Just slash! It’s easier than it looks! Like your weapons were made for this! Slash! You don’t need to remember to slash! _

More miasma. Another gust of death.

_ The girl! The miasma will get the girl! KILL IT! _

“Ahhh!!!”

\--

“-nta! Jinta! I know you’re alive, damn it! Wake up!”

Jinta jerked awake, facedown on the cave floor. He let go of whatever was in his hands and supported himself so he could get up. Prone to hands and knees to kneeling. He looked around slowly.

“Jinta?”

Jinta head snapped to look at her.

_ The girl. She was here before. I saved her. Wait… No… The miasma… She would have died. Right? How was she here in the first place? Where is- _

“Jinta!”

“Huh?! Sorry! What?!”

“What’s the matter with you? Are you ok? You healed me, carved up Nito, started screaming in anger or something, then just fell over.”

“Nito…?” said Jinta, not recognizing the name. “Nito… Nito… Nito. Ni- Gravelord. Gravelord Nito! Damn!”

Jinta jumped up to his feet and spun around, looking around the cavern.

“You killed him. Calm down.”

“ _ I _ did? Nito? Gravelord Nito’s a Lord! How did I- I didn’t, did I? You did! No, wait, I did. Those weapons.”

Jinta turned around again and looked from his swords on the floor to the woman.

“Did you make those?”

“What? No, I-... Wait.” The woman suddenly sighed with annoyance.

“You idiot,” she said. There was less malice in it than Jinta felt like there should be.

Jinta suddenly found himself kneeling back down. The woman was pointing at him and there was a pink light shining from her finger. He took up the swords that had won the fight and sheathed them on his belt. He had scabbards that fit each of them, despite them both being different types of blade. They had glowed very softly when he touched them.

“You didn’t make them. They were mine. I brought them here. Someone blessed them for me. I’m good with them, since they suit my style. I’m fast and agile, but my armor’s not the best. And you… Who are you again?”

“Just calm down for now, ok? Stay here and don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

Seiko left Jinta where he was and walked around the cavern looking for the giant coffin Nito had been in and the unlit bonfire near it. She found it, lit it, and went back for Jinta. She heard him screaming before she got back, so she ran. Seiko found him still on his knees, but his forehead was to the ground and his hands were on his helmet.

“Jinta!”

“Too much! Too much! I used too much! Damn it! I can’t remember! I can’t! Remember!”

He started scrubbing his hands over his helmet.

“Remember! Rememberrememberrememberrememberrememberremember!”

“Shut up!”

Jinta flinched and stopped.

“You told me about this. You did too much with miracles, didn’t you? You don’t need to remember anything else right now but this: Is this temporary, or are your memories gone for good?”

“Temporary? Temporary. Temporary. ‘Miracles are a test of faith. You must believe absolutely to have power absolutely. But beware absolute power, for your human mind cannot fathom the gods and their power over the absolute. If you should fly too close to the sun, the lightning of the clouds below you will strike you from the sky, and to ash will you return.’”

_ Big help. At least he remembers that drivel. _

“So, you don’t know? Maybe you should sleep, then. Come on, get up.”

Jinta didn’t move. Seiko used Rapport again. He shook, but didn’t move.

Seiko grunted in frustration and Jinta jerked up, then stood. He was still shaking, but he was obeying. He followed her like a wood doll with too few joints. Seiko led him to the bonfire and had him sit down with his legs crossed, his left shoulder facing the fire. He took off his helmet.

“Now go to sleep.”

Jinta fell back and his head landed in Seiko’s lap.

\--

A/N: BRS TV, Waltz of Loneliness by Hiromi Kikuta. The original one, track 7. Continues through here and after the chapter ends until about two and three-quarters minutes in. After that it gets a bit too aggressive...

\--

Seiko waited and Jinta slept. Seiko looked back over their interactions to pass the time. Somewhere along the way she’d resigned herself to helping him, and she knew herself well enough by now to know how that would affect her. She knew she’d be willing to die to reach her goal, but even she was a bit surprised by her own behavior.

She looked down at Jinta. She wasn’t surprised by his behavior. He liked to pretend he had a better grip on life than she did, but he was just as reckless as she knew herself to be. Even asleep, Jinta appeared to be agonizing over his cracked sanity.

Seiko’s gaze wandered to the bonfire and she had a new thought, from nowhere. A bonfire was fire. Pyromancy could never recreate the First Flame, from which the bonfires drew their power. But why couldn’t a Pyromancer’s flame be soothing too? It was an extension of the self. An actualization of will. Seiko had already made a new Pyromancy -  _ I might call it Dire Combustion… Or Blaze?  _ \- so she knew it was possible. Pyromancy couldn’t be for nothing but pain and death. There had to be more to the flame than just fighting.

Seiko looked back at Jinta, who had healed her, cured poison, and saved her life. She, instead, harmed, spread poison and toxin, and took life away. Perhaps it was better this way, then, that they travel together. If flame was only good for death…

Death. The Dead Soul was Nito’s. The Witch of Izalith discovered Pyromancy, and she held the Life Soul.

In her revelation, Seiko looked down and turned a palm up. A small ember flowered into a candle’s flame, small enough to grasp. But this flame was orange, and untouched by the streaks of black that had wormed into her Pyromancy. It grew, slowly, and rounded out, like a flame unaffected by gravity. From this little bubble of fire in her hand, Seiko could faintly feel the same soothing aura of a bonfire. She knew it was beyond her to do anything with this newfound power in her current state, but it still brought a slight smile to her face.

She curled her fingers over it, holding the lingering warmth in her fist.

“Ahh… So there  _ is _ more to it…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caught up to FFN now.


	27. Chapter 27

**-Tomb of The Giants-**

Before Jinta even opened his eyes, he could gather what had happened. His memories had returned, but not before torturing his dreams.

“Jinta? Are you ok now?”

He opened his eyes to see Seiko looking down at him. The glow of her eyes he’d found to be fascinating and unsettling somehow seemed warmer than he remembered. It was her expression, he concluded, that had changed. He sat up.

“I’m fine. Sorry… It’s hard to judge my limit when I use so many different miracles together. I have a sort of rhythm with a few I know, like Wrath, so this doesn’t happen, but I haven’t had time to test them in every possible combination yet.”

“You did agree that miracles had a lot more to do with memorization and conviction than other magics. It makes sense. But if that’s the case, and you know that, then you should restrict yourself to only using certain combinations you know are safe. Is it possible for you to grow stronger and use more of them closer together?”

Jinta rubbed the back of his head, worn gloves over bristly hair.

“Like you and your Pyromancy, you mean. Yes, it is. It’s not as drastic, though, the increase of power. My limit right now, where there is no danger, is equal to three casts of Wrath. Great Heal, which I used first, was too soon after healing you before the fight. Using Soothing Sunlight, then, right after, was my limit. If I could have just stopped right there, it would just have been a little bit of confusion before I remembered everything. But then I had to use Caressing Prayer too and…”

Jinta sighed.

“I’m sorry. If I had just-”

“Sorry?”

Jinta turned to look at her.

“You wouldn’t have been in any danger if I hadn’t gotten overconfident. I thought because he was big and slow that he was no threat. I tossed my Pyromancy around on a whim thinking I was strong enough to just clean him up and move on. But I wasn’t. Chaos Pyromancy melts boulders, but it clearly isn’t enough for bone.”

She looked down.

“Quelaana once scolded me for my lack of fear. She threw in my face how desensitized I was to what I could do to others. ‘You think searing flesh from bone not terrible?’”

Jinta was quiet.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” said Seiko. “And I realize because of what’s happened that I need to change. I’m the one who should be sorry.”

Jinta found himself surprised that she had apologized directly. He hadn’t expected it of her.

“Well, provided you don’t let this get you down, you’ve got a very long life ahead of you to make that change. Rest assured that I’ll be with you to help every step of the way… Until the day comes that I can finally link the fire. Lifting the curse, even for a while, and letting those who wish to die human.”

“A permanent good death? Is that really your end goal in all this?”

“Well, no. Ideally, it would be to end the cycle completely. Find a way to keep the Dark at bay indefinitely, or get rid of it.”

“‘Get rid of it?’ I don’t think you’ve paid attention to the shape of the world if you’re saying that.”

“Surely humanity can’t be so deeply entwined with it that it couldn’t be rooted out?”

“Have you lived in a box your whole life?!”

There was a pause. The look of less contempt and more concern than she expected on Jinta’s face had her realize her outburst.

“I mean… I lost nearly all my memories and I feel like I understand the world better than you do. You can’t just cure the Dark. You can’t just wash away the Abyss from the world. It’s a part of things. After everything I’ve seen after returning to this journey, I can’t accept a world like the one you want. There’s no balance.”

“Balance? I find it hard to accept a lecture on balance from a Pyromancer. Not to offend, but it seems to me like your power only causes harm, to yourself and others. Magic seems the same. At least with miracles it’s possible to help others, heal the damage done.”

Seiko opened her mouth to argue, but closed it shortly after. Her expression softened.

“I don’t mean to come across as self-righteous. I pursued miracles in the first place because I saw that potential in them.”  
“That’s not why I’m choosing not to argue. I have a better way than yelling and throwing a fit like I keep doing. Let’s go back to Firelink so you can offer up Nito’s soul, then let’s go to Blighttown. The way to Izalith is near there anyway.”

“I can agree to that. But now I’m curious how you intend to convince me. Not that I’m holding anything against you.”

\--

**-Blighttown-**

“Follow me, but stay back a bit. I’m not so sure she’ll show herself if I’m bringing anyone else.”

“Who?” asked Jinta, confused. He followed Seiko out into the bog, but kept a slower pace to let her walk ahead. She didn’t seem to know where she was going.

They wandered for a bit, Jinta several meters behind Seiko as she looked. She approached a pillar and looked around one corner, and Jinta could see she’d found who she had been looking for.

Jinta could hear them talking before he could see them. He came around the pillar.

“I’ve brought a Chosen Undead with me too, Sister. We’ve come to take the Life Soul.”

Jinta saw who Seiko was talking to, a woman sitting in the dirt wearing the same robes Seiko had around her neck, face hidden in the hood, and he wondered who Seiko would call “sister.”

“So I see. And I also see that he is not without potential of his own.”

“You’re… Quelaana…!” said Jinta, realizing. “You call her ‘sister?!’”

“‘Mother’ isn’t right,” said Seiko, “and just ‘Quelaana’ is both not enough and, I feel, rude to someone who’s taught me so much.”

“You’re not… Are you as strong as she is? Is that possible?”

“No,” said Quelaana, “I don’t believe she is. I’m not sure it is possible. But I would argue that such an impossibility is a good thing. Child, you don’t want the world to witness another Daughter of Chaos. But, sadly… You might yet.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jinta.

“One of my sisters is still alive, and guards my mother’s chambers. I suspect that if you intend to take the Life Soul, you will encounter her.”

“I’d rather,” said Seiko, “that we talk less about our problems. Sister, I have something to show you. Please don’t be angry with me.”

Seiko knelt next to where Quelaana sat and held out her hands, cupped as if holding water. A small candle’s flame wicked into existence there, small and orange.

“An orange flame. From you? That’s-”

Quelaana stopped when she saw the little thing grow, slowly turning into a warmly glowing sphere of flame, unflickering. Jinta felt a sensation creep up inside him from being near the flame, like walking up to a campfire in the woods, far from any conflict, yet also far from home. The flame shed a layer in a pulse, and that layer expanded and dissipated.

“What… Have you done… How…?”

“I can’t explain it, Sister,” said Seiko. “I was sitting next to a bonfire, wondering why Jinta’s miracles could heal, but Pyromancy could not. Why was flame nothing but hostility? But then I remembered that it wasn’t. Carmina used Pyromancy to protect herself from flame, and to use things like Iron Flesh. You’ve shown me Rapport, to project my willpower onto others. Eingyi showed me to twist Pyromancy into mists. The flame is a reflection of who uses it, right?”

\--

A/N: BRS TV, The Story by Hiromi Kikuta

\--

Both Jinta and Quelaana were speechless. Seiko continued, at first just looking into her own warm, orange flame.

“My first Pyromancy was to implant my flame in others. It was cruel, brutal, and effective. No matter how tough my opponent was against the flames I threw, once it was inside them there was no defense against it. Then I learned to project my flames like an arrow, if I had to. Both were weapons. I continued the legacy I had learned - to cauterize the world into a shape I wanted.”

Seiko looked up at Quelaana. The motion drew Quelaana’s eyes and she looked up as well.

“But this,” said Seiko, raising the bubble slightly, “Was born from everything I know. It is your desire to fear the fire and control yourself. It is Salaman’s curiosity and desire for strength. It is Carmina’s theory and practicality. It is Eingyi’s cunning imagination and element of the unexpected. It is the twist of Life like Chaos, but to give life instead of influence it. And it is my creativity and desperation to leave my own mark, to be useful, and to live up to your expectations.”

They were quiet for a moment. Seiko wasn’t sure that Quelaana wouldn’t be angry. After all, in a way, Seiko was mimicking the First Flame. No matter what the motivation, if it drew her too close to the mistake of Chaos, Quelaana would never approve of it.

Quelaana put her hands over the flame. Seiko put it out, and Quelaana rested her hands on Seiko’s. Quelaana lowered her head.

“You both know, of course, who my mother was. What my family has done. The Lord Souls were powerful, intoxicating things. With the Life Soul, Mother gained the power to light a flame of her own making. She found she could pass on this flame to others, and did so. When the time came to reshape the world… When Gwyn and his ilk sought war with the dragons… It was the place of all the Lords to lend their strength.

It was my mother’s power that carved the first path. Our power. Weaving our flames as one, we created swathes of flame great enough to burn the trees upon which the world itself rested. The homes of those dragons. I cannot speak for my sisters, but I found myself horrified by what we had done when it was over. And yet it was not over, as I’d thought.

Gwyn approached my mother. The great Witch of Izalith, he thought, would surely produce a flame equal to that of the First Flame. At his request she tried… And failed. Her flame grew beyond her control, with a life of its own, and twisted-… Corrupted everything it touched. I alone was spared.”

It was clear that Quelaana would give anything to not have to talk about the subject. Unable to see her face, Seiko and Jinta were still able to make that judgment on her voice alone.

“This Chosen may have come to take her soul regardless… But you have a choice, Seiko. I know not this Chosen’s strength or motivation, but you… You have clearly grown. Faster than I anticipated, and in ways I did not expect. This is not a test. It is not a rite of passage. It is a favor I must ask of you. Go with him. Confront my mother. And release her, and my sisters, from Chaos.”

Seiko didn’t know what to say, but was clearly confused.

“I know you must think I could have done it myself, but… I simply lack the strength…”

“ _ You _ do?!” said Jinta, quietly.

“Pyromancy is an extension of the self, Chosen Undead. And it just is not in me to harm them. I cannot.”

She closed Seiko’s hands into her own.

“I’m sorry. But please…”

There was another pause. Quelaana had lowered her head again, both as a gesture for her request, and in the shame she felt.

“I have grown,” said Seiko. “And still have more to learn. I’ve been through a lot, but there is still much more of life to live. I can face this life because of what you have given me. If you, of all people, ask such a thing of me, how could I ever refuse? I don’t know what this means to you, and I probably never will, but I would rather it be me than anyone else. Please, don’t bow your head to me. Please don’t ever bow to anyone again.

Your mother’s power was frightening and destructive, and you inherited it from her… But I inherited it from you. Her flame, your flame, still has a life of its own. I won’t apologize for using it as a weapon, especially with the world the way it is… But I promise you that won’t be all it ever is. Fire stems from Life; it ought to be able to give and not just take.”

\--

Quelaana didn’t move. She just tightened her grip on Seiko’s hands. Sitting in the dirt in Blighttown, a living legend unseen by all the world.

Seiko stood suddenly, yanking Quelaana up with her. She grabbed up Quelaana in a hug. Quelaana stood frozen for a second, stock still, but then rested her hands on Seiko’s back. It wasn’t so much a hug back as acceptance. Seiko could feel Quelaana deflate in her arms, so she gave a squeeze and backed off.

“We’ll be back, Sister. Please wait for us here.”

Seiko looked at Jinta and nodded toward the spiderweb-covered mound, their way ahead.

As they got further away, out of earshot, Jinta spoke up.

“What was that you just did? That Pyromancy.”

“I made it, like I said.”

“Made it?! Pyromancers can do that? Just make new techniques on the fly?”

“Can’t you, with miracles?”

“Not that I’m aware. I know they have to come from somewhere, but I always assumed you had to be a powerful being to create one. For example, how Lord Gwyn was the first user of lightning. When anyone uses lightning now, they use his tales, and believe they can draw on the same power.”

“So, you think that only deities or gods of some kind can make new miracles, then pilgrims spread those new tales? What about your ‘Smite?’”

“Like I said, I can only describe the person who taught that to me as an angel.”

“What did they look like?”

“I can’t remember. I know I got a good look at them, and I know I spoke with them long enough to learn the miracle’s tale, but for the life of me, I can’t remember. It’s like a silhouette or something, but wearing clothes I can’t make out. I can only remember that the person appeared to be a woman.”

“But you remember the miracle just fine? What’s the tale?”

“‘Behold ye our Steel Cage Princess, who is at once royal and not, maiden to Her unfortunate Queen. Hear Her song, see Her blood, and rejoice when She takes flight. Know Her flight to be blissful, Her face to be serene. Live by Her word only, for She alone loves, and She alone sees, decrees that thee the world’s suffering Smite.’”

“Kinda long, isn’t it?”

“No longer than my other powerful miracles. Part of learning to cast miracles effectively is learning to speak quickly, yet clearly. The words also don’t need to be loud, but yelling does help the mind with more offensive miracles. Emotion is involved, of course, but it’s not the only important element.”

“If you fought another paladin, would you two be yelling miracles at each other then?”

Jinta looked over at Seiko while they walked to find a grin on her face.

“Very funny. Perhaps we might. I’ve never fought another cleric or paladin.”

**-Quelaag’s Domain-**

The two continued down, where Jinta went straight for the path into Izalith, but Seiko continued forward toward the bonfire.

“Seiko?”

She neared the bonfire, in the center of the chamber where Eingyi and the Fair Lady were. Seiko greeted Eingyi and went up to the Fair Lady. She bowed and waited.

“She can’t speak, Seiko. I’m not even sure she’s alive. I’ve never seen her move.”

The Fair Lady opened her eyes and leaned, ever so slightly, closer to Seiko.

Seiko offered all the Humanity she had to spare. The Fair Lady visibly relaxed, though only a bit, and closed her eyes again. Jinta felt a wave of warmth wash through the chamber briefly.

“Thank you, Sister. I’m sorry, but I cannot bring myself to just kill you. Quelaana is dear to me, and if you remember her, I’m sure she is dear to you as well… But I will have to fail her, just this once, by my own choice. Without you, who will teach the world Chaos Pyromancy, after all? And Eingyi needs you. Be well, Sister.”

The Fair Lady sighed, the only sound Jinta had ever heard her make. Eingyi, laying in the corner, burdened with a mound of eggs, had his forehead to the ground and his hands joined in prayer over his head. When Eingyi heard Seiko’s boots thump on the bricks again, he raised his head.

“Thank you! Oh, thank you! My Lady is happy, I know it! And thank you for your mercy. Quelaana has asked you to free her sisters from Chaos, yes? I knew this day would come… But I cannot thank you enough! You have eased my Lady’s pain, and you have spared her life! Please, before you go, let me teach you one more thing. It will help you through Lost Izalith, in your search for The Witch.”

Seiko approached Eingyi and he whispered to her. She nodded and straightened.

“I’ll keep an eye out for it. Thank you, Eingyi.”

“Most welcome. Be safe. Izalith is not the civilization it once was. Chaos Demons are everywhere, and they don’t think much of fire at all! My poisons and your strength will be your only options!”

“We’ll manage,” she said, pausing next to Jinta. “Let’s go, then. Sorry for the wait.”

“Not at all,” said Jinta, turning to follow her.

They entered the tunnel down to Chaos, the air growing hotter with every step.


End file.
